What is Special Olympics? 

Special Olympics is an avenue for our student athletes at Syble Hopp School to compete against other athletes within our area, our state, and even our country. Our student athletes can participate in a variety of individual sports, team sports, and unified sports. Check out the Special Olympics Wisconsin Mission.

Why you should get your child involved in Special Olympics? 

• It’s ​fun

• It’s a great way to make friends (within our school, with unified partners, and other agency members)

• It provides extra opportunities for your child to improve skills 

• Your child will get extra exercise

• Your child will have the opportunity to be a part of a team

• It teaches responsibility (bringing appropriate attire and being prepared) and independence 

How to get your child signed up for our Special Olympics Program? 

• Parents and athlete sign our Special Olympics Code of Conduct

• Parents and athlete sign a Participant Release Form and Athlete Registration Form

• Parents complete a portion of Special Olympics Physical Form and have their child's doctor complete the second portion of the Special Olympics Physical Form

After these sheets are turned in, your son or daughter is eligible to begin practicing and competing for our program. Check out the Special Olympics’ forms. 

What sports does Syble Hopp offer? 

• Fall Sports: Bowling 

• Winter Sports: Snowshoe Racing

• Spring Sports: Team Basketball (3 V 3) and Basketball Skills

• Summer Sports: Soccer and Track and Field

Communication

I communicate with families using Remind 101 (sign up by texting @hoppso to 81010), email (jklicka@syblehopp.org), and notes home to parents. I typically send out a Remind 101 text and a note about a month prior to a sport's season starting to see if you want your son or daughter to participate. If you commit to having your son or daughter participate, then you will receive an additional text and note the week of the competition outlining where the competition is, what time your athlete needs to arrive, and the travel accommodations for that competition. 

Get Involved

With our expanding numbers, I'm always looking for additional help. The three ways parents, family members, and friends can involved with our program are by becoming a volunteer (class A), a unified partner (class B), or a coach. Unified partners compete alongside my student athletes in competitive activities against other unified teams. I'm trying to move more towards having my class B volunteers being school-aged athletes instead of simply using teachers and parents. Class A volunteers are typically parents who are attending Special Olympics events anyway, so they help me out at competitions with whatever I may need. The most involved opportunity for helping occurs with coaching. I currently coach all of our sports with additional help for our sports teams. If you are interested in helping in anyway, then you can click on the appropriate link and it will walk you through the steps to become a unified partner, volunteer, or coach. 

Regional Basketball Skills Competition

Syble Hopp School couldn't be more proud of our basketball skill student athletes. These student athletes  had to endure a long wait time before it was finally time to compete. Not only did they remain respectful, but when it was show time, they all showed out! 

State Qualifiers

Regional Team Basketball Competition

The Syble Hopp Kangaroos improved a ton over the course of the season. The team capped the season off with a third place finish at the Regional Basketball Tournament in Neenah! 

Syble Hopp School had 11 people plunge. As a team we raised close to $4,000 for Special Olympics Wisconsin. Thank you everyone who supported us by plunging, donating, or cheering us on!

Special Olympics Snowshoeing

Our student athletes and coaches got dressed to the nines to enjoy a "Red Carpet" themed dance and a team dinner at Sconni's Alehouse and Eatery. We even made it on the Special Olympics Wisconsin Instagram page!

State Bowling

Our state bowlers rockin' and rollin' at Dale's Weston Lanes!

Syble Hopp Intramural Bocce Ball

A few action shots from the Intramural Bocce Ball Tournament

Big shout out to all of the student athletes that helped out keeping score during the tournament!

"Win or lose, we're all still Kangaroos!"

Thank you friends and families for coming out and supporting our student athletes.

Syble Hopp Intramural Soccer

The intramural soccer game was the last event of the year through Hopp Athletics. I want to give a big shout out to my three outgoing seniors in this picture: Gabby, Josh, and Jordan. I'm incredibly proud of how all three of these athletes have represented Syble Hopp School and navigated the pandemic over the course of these last few years. Each of them could have been bitter for not getting to end their time at Syble Hopp traditionally, but they took everything in stride from virtual fitness classes to intramural competitions with their peers. Our program and school will miss each of you, but we know you will continue to do great things within our community. I'm also proud that I had 11 athletes who've never played team soccer before sign up to try it. If there's a silver lining to the craziest that these last few years have brought, it's that we've had student athletes get out of their comfort zone and try new activities. We've also had several students just begin to get involved! It's awesome to see the program continue to grow!

Syble Hopp Track and Field 

"People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care." -Theodore Roosevelt