Dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals in Greater Durham with intellectual disabilities through the power of sport

Thank you to our 2025 Track and Field Meet Volunteers

Thank you to the many volunteers who generously gave of their time all day on Saturday to make our track and field meet a success. It was a hot one but you all hung in there and deserve a big high five.

A BIG THANK YOU

In February 2025, the Durham Regional Police Association, in partnership with the Durham Regional Police, proudly hosted the 62nd Annual International Police Hockey Tournament an entirely not-for-profit event right here in the Durham Region.

Greater Durham Special Olympics was one of many charities proceeds from the tournament that received donations.

Its with A BIG THANK YOU TO Durham Regional Police Association and DRPS for your amazing donation today $2,072.52

Ontario Law Enforcement Torch Run

Durham Community Run June 19th 10am - 1pm Starting Location: DRPS HQ, 605 Rossland Rd East, Whitby Ending Location: DRPS HQ, 605 Rossland Rd East, Whitby

ONTARIO LAW ENFORCEMENT TORCH RUN PLEDGE FORM

Greater Durham Special Olympics Golf Tournament

Date: Sunday, July 6, 2025

Location: Mill Run Golf Club, 269 Durham Regional Road 8 Uxbridge

Golf Course: Championship Course

Cost: $175/Player $700/Foursome

Time: 8:30 - 9:30am Arrival 9:30 - 9:45 Opening Remarks/Rules 10am Shotgun Start 2:30pm Lunch/Awards & Prizing

Includes: Registration Gift Breakfast & Buffet Lunch Hole Contests and Activations Option to take part in Mystery Boxes, Silent Auction and More

Register By: Friday, June 20, 2025

Email: Ryan Colpitts at ryancolpitts22@gmail.com

A Big Thank You

A Big Thank you to St. Isaac Jogues Knights of Columbus for hosting past and bingo last Saturday night on behalf of Greater Durham Special Olympics.

DPRS Polar Plunge in support of Special Olympics raised over $35K

A Big thank you to everyone who plunged. also Big thanks to Durham Regional Police, Durham Regional Police Association, Oshawa Fire, Ajax Fire, Durham Regional Paramedics, Oshawa Generals, Tribute Communities Centre. you raised over $35K and they still counting.

2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games

Way to go, Team Canada! Congratulations to all the athletes and coaches for their unforgettable performance at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

Greater Durham - Special Olympics Ontario are very proud of our Greater Durham athletes who were on Team Canada. They trained hard to make their dreams come true. Congratulations to Ella and Catherine in contributing to Team Canada’s medal count.

Ella Robinson-Renaud Speed Skating

333M Race came in 4th

500M Race came in 3rd

222M Race came in 1st

Catherine Patlow Snowshoeing

200M Race came in 2nd

100M Race came in 1st

4x100m came in 1st

BIG THANK YOU

Our GDSO community THANKS the Oshawa ‘St. Mary of the People’ Knights of Columbus for their $2000 donation! GDSO Athletes C.J. and Thomas accepted the donation from K. of C. Don Walmsley.

2025 Summer Registration

2025 Greater Durham Special Olympics Summer Programs

The programs are now available on the portal for athletes to register.

A big note submitting a registration does not guarantee that you are accepted into a program.

New Soccer Program

Durham Lightning Soccer Club

Program Times: Wednesday's 6pm to 8pm - Starting (June 4th - August 27th) Location: TBA

Motionball Marathon of Sport event at University of Toronto

motionball U (University) is hosting a FREE Marathon of Sport event at the University of Toronto on Friday, March 14, 2025. University students will play alongside Special Olympics athletes in a variety of fun sporting activities. Spaces are limited and will be accepted on a first registration basis. Please register early! Only those that have registered using the form below will be contacted for confirmation by motionball. Please see below for location and time and use the link provided to register.

Please note this event is on a weekday!

University of Toronto – Athletic Centre

55 Harbord Street - Toronto, ON M5S 2W6

Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm

Cost: FREE!

Registration Form: Click Here (The form will close once registration is full)

Shirt will be provided at the event upon check-in

For more information please contact Kama Moore - kama@motionball.com

Special Olympics World Winter Games

Special Olympics World Winter Games will be taking place from March 8-15 in Turin, Italy. GDSO will have two athletes at the games we wish them well and good luck.

Catherine Partlow for Snowshoeing

Ella Robinson Renaud for Speed Skating

Brantford 2025 Special Olympics Ontario Provincial Summer Games

1000+ Athletes and Coaches Named to District Training Squads for the 2025 Provincial Summer Games.

we thrilled to announce GDSO training squad:

Athletics:

Curtis Cook, Ibraheem Khan, Jessica Romaniuk, McKaila Stewart

Coaches: Janet White, Lauren Whyte

Golf:

Luke Cooney, Catherine Partlow

Caddies: James Cooney, Tom Partlow

Softball Durham Dodgers:

John Antoniou, Andrew Boyd, Cameron Clephan, Ryan Colpitts, Joel Devakumar, Jessie Grant, Jordan Robinson, Noah Shulist, Mitch Stavert, Dana Thompson, Joey Walsh, Luke Whiteside, Justin Williams

Coaches: Dave Clephan, Chris May, Kevin Thompson

Softball Durham Jr. Dodgers :

Joseph Alfonsi,Eric Bunton, Zachary Drury, Brian Duncan, Melissa Evans, Timothy Francis, Devin Frogley, Matthew Heldsinger, Ryan Henry, Joshua Hosking, Kevin Hurshman, Ryan Irish, Jeremiah Jackson, Preston Pearce, Terry Savage

Coaches: Robert Drury, Tania Pearce, Sean Pearce

Your New Athlete Representative

My name is Justin Williams, and I am proud to serve as your athlete representative for Greater Durham. I have been involved with the Special Olympics for over 10 years, participating in four sports: basketball, floor hockey, soccer, and softball.

My journey began in 2015 when I spent four years participating in the Special Olympics while attending J. Clarke Richardson High School. During that time, I competed in all five sports alongside unified teams. Since then, I have dedicated the past six years to community involvement, including being part of Toronto FC Unified since 2018. I was honoured to be selected to participate in the All-Star Game in Orlando in 2019.

After completing high school, I returned to J. Clarke Richardson as a coach and was part of the coaching staff that helped athletes win medals in track and field in Kingston in 2023, and in Soccer in 2024 in Chatham-kent,

I am looking forward to representing you!