In-Shape pairs with Special Olympics

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On Sept. 2, California In-Shape Health Clubs announced on its website a partnership with the Special Olympics Northern California and Nevada.

This announcement came just days after Netflix released its film documentary “Rising Phoenix,” which follows the stories of Paralympic athletes and a history of the games. 

The  documentary puts the idea that a person’s disability is a strength at the forefront. “Rising Phoenix” highlights the importance that sports play in a disabled athlete’s everyday life.

In-Shape Health Clubs wanted their new partnership to “keep athletes engaged and healthy both physically and mentally,” according to Rachelle Gardette, senior director of group fitness. “We were able to bring encouragement to a group that can feel disconnected at times.” 

Although the two sport organizations, the Special Olympics and the Paralympics are different they both encourage people with a disability to take part in sports to reach different goals. Both, though, have built a stage on which people with a disability can stay active and shine.

Some of their differences are disability and athletic ability criteria. There are different disabilities that qualify athletes for either competition and athletes for the Paralympics must qualify by meeting a high level of execution.

The partnership between In-Shape and the Special Olympics first came about when, “They reached out and probably thought we wanted to host one session, but we took part every Friday in August,” said Gardette.

This partnership was specifically designed for the Special Olympic athletes, Gardette said. 

“I am not sure our members even knew we were doing this, they hosted and invited the athletes,” she said. 

“They hosted the events and our coaches planned our routines and themes,” Gardette said of the collaborative work they were able to do.

In-Shape was interested in the themes the Special Olympics would include in their activities and in order to make the virtual sessions more entertaining and interactive for the athletes they followed suit.

They even went on to host their own, “Star Wars-themed Zoom call where there were close to 100 athletes on the call,” said Gardette.

Apart from offering free virtual workouts for Special Olympic athletes In-Shape has also been encouraging athletes to take part in their summer virtual races. 

Athletes participating in the races can be sponsored by those who want to support the event without necessarily taking part in the race.

“We opened up donations to sponsor special athletes in the triathlon,” said Gardette.

“In-Shape is committed to keeping California healthy despite the toll this shutdown has taken on our business,” said In-Shape CEO Francesca Schuler in a statement.

Although the club’s laid-off staff did not take part in the partnership Gardette did say they were missed. 

“We are not whole without our team, we are looking forward to having them back as soon as possible,” she said.