Fran Scholey: Special Olympics CEO on National Summer Games in Christchurch

The Special Olympics National Summer Games have been in full swing this week in Christchurch. 

Over 1200 athletes, 500 coaches, and 800 volunteers have descended on the city in one of the biggest sporting events of the year. 

CEO Fran Scholey told Piney there’s been a buzz all week. 

She says there’s been a lot of support and it’s been a great vibe. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
The Special Olympics National Summer Games kicked off in christ
Church on Wednesday. They run through until tomorrow. Over twelve
hundred athletes, over five hundred coaches and eight hundred volunteers.
The biggest sports event this year in christ Church. It's
also the first ever event to take place at the
brand new Patakyori Sports Center in christ Church. So it's

(00:35):
been quite a few days. CEO of Special Olympics New
Zealand is Franz Scoli who joins us now Gady fran Howe.
Has the week been, Oh.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
It has been at buzz here. I tell you there
is a lot going on. We've got a lot of
support and it's just a great vibe.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Tell us about how far and wide the athletes have
come from to come to christ Church for this event.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yes, so as far as the Bay of Violence and
all the way down in the Cargo. So we've got
forty two clubs participating here at the National Summer Game.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
And across a variety of different sports. Frank, can you
give us an insight into some of the sports that
these athletes are competing.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yeah. Absolutely. Our most popular sport is tenpin bowling, followed
by swimming and then one of our team sports basketball,
but we also do indoor bowls, botchy, equestrian golf, football,
and athletics.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
This feels like quite a big logistical exercise for you
and your team. How much planning goes into pulling an
event like this together.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, so we don't have a very big team, but
it's been about eighteen months worth of planning and we've
had to be really flexible in terms of partakyr day building,
getting in to do some testing for our swimming and
basketball that's being held here, but also our Healthy Athletes program.
So huge acknowledgment to the National Summer Games Events team,

(01:59):
but also our clubs and our volunteers that have allowed
us to get to where we are today.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Already is brand new in christ which isn't it the
new Sports center which has an aquatic part of it,
but also you know courts et cetera. Am I right
in saying friend that this is the first event that
has used part of Chiote.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
We are the first event and our athletes have absolutely
loved it. They love the fact that they are the
first swimmers or Basketball Live participating at part of Ciorte.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
What is it like there? I had a chance to
walk through earlier in the year and it was sort
of getting its finishing touches. I was amazed by. What's
it been like, you know, in a sense of actually
being functional for an event like this.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, it's actually really, really, really well done. So we've
worked really closely with christ Up City Council and it's
just a hub of activity. The way in which they've
laid it out, the entrances, the exits, how to get
from different flaws to viewing platforms, it's.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Just phenomenal, amazing.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Now.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
I saw some really cool social media of your opening
ceremony at Wolfbrook Arena starring the absolutely magnificent Jason Gunn
the other night. What was that like?

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah? Five thousand people into that arena. Five thousand, yes,
And I tell you what, our athletes absolutely loved it.
So we had yeah, as I said, five thousand people
in the arena. We had some dancing, we had some singing.
We had obviously our athletes marching out representing their clubs. Yes,

(03:35):
we had Jason Gunn, and we also had our amazing
nc our athlete from Canterbury. Sorry, Andrew Oswyn, amazing stuff.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Now you mentioned before the Healthy Athletes program. I want
to get a bit of more information on this. What
does that involve.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, so Special Olympics really tries to wrap around a
holder viewpoints. So we want to look after our house.
So essentially what we're utilizing is we're bringing house to
our athletes. So we've got six feet so you can
and come in and get your feet checked and ensure
you've got the right shoes and the right ethodics and
those sorts of things. We've also got our smiles activation,

(04:16):
so that's a dentists that are checking out the teeth.
We've got our hearing. We've also got our optometry so
all of our eyes. And the amazing partners that we
have actually gift to our athletes are any prescription glasses
so just general were, but also any competition glasswere as well.
And then our last one is actually strong lines, which

(04:39):
is really important. And Scott Barrett's ad an amazing speech
at our opening ceremony and what really resonated around that
was he talked about nervous pressure and energy that he
feels before the game and heard so many of our
Accetes be like, just remember what Scott said, and so
that builds really nicely into that strong Lindes program that

(05:01):
we run as well.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Absolutely standing the Healthy Athletes program is that driven by
the fact that that typically, you know, some athletes with
intellectual disabilities don't complain if something's not quite right with
their teeth or their hearing all their side, or they
don't get regular checks.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, I would change the sum to the majority. And
so that's why it's incredibly important to ensure that they
get the screening so then get referral so when they
go back home then they can follow up and get
the necessary medical treatment that they need.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
So as you're sitting or standing, chairing clapping watching these athletes, friend,
it must be I don't know, it just must be
incredibly heartwarming for you. Is it to watch this all
happen and you know, to have to beat the head
of an organization that makes something like this come together
in such impressive fashion.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, I was in tears this morning, and so I
had a lot of athletes giving me hugs and high
fives and telling me it was okay, and I had
to explain to them that it was happy tears We've
got an employee with special Olympics Mark, whose son Adam
actually participates in there, and we are following his story
at the moment. But to summit up, Adams just started swimming.

(06:13):
And when Adam first started swimming, Mark his dad needed
to get into the pool with him to help build
the confidence. He turned around before to Mark and said, Dad,
I've bought this. As he walked through the marshaling area
and out onto the swimming platform to race. It was
just amazing And it's that confidence build that we just

(06:36):
cannot take for granted, and it's just one of the
key elements that sports can bring to anybody.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
And I'm not surprised for a few misty eyes, for
prickly eyes. That's when it happened, and just one example
of it. Fran And I know it's a busy time,
as I've said, across the weekend, you wrap up on Sunday. Look,
it's just an amazing event and I'm so pleased we've
had the chance to chat to you about it. All
the best for the rest of the weekend, and congrats
to you and your team for pulling this together.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Oh, thank you so much, No, thank.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
You, friend, Franz Scoli.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
There.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
She is the CEO of Special Olympics New Zealand. A
quite extraordinary event going on in christ Church, the Special
Olympics National Summer Games.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
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