IT’S a case of down but not out for Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) as the sporting body, along with others in the island and around the globe, continues to grapple with the debilitating impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Myriad SOJ programmes and events have been suspended amidst the indefinite waiting game, which has been characterised by fear, desperation and frustration.

“We know the situation, we know it’s a worldwide crisis,” Coleridge “Roy” Howell, the SOJ executive director, told the Jamaica Observer.

“We’ve been following guidelines from our Government and been in dialogue with Special Olympics International through Lorna Bell, director of the Caribbean Initiative. We were instructed to cease programmes, so we have stopped all training and participation,” he said

Training for next year’s Special Olympics World Winter Games has halted.

The annual national summer games, customarily staged in June, is in danger. And of even more immediate concern are the Law Enforcement Torch Run, slated for later this month, and May’s scheduled roll-out of another in a series of healthy athletes clinics.

The torch run, a major fund-raising avenue for Special Olympics, also helps to promote public awareness.

The healthy athletes programme is at the core of the Special Olympics movement. Through clinics run by trained volunteers, the programme offers free health examinations and treatment to people with intellectual disabilities.

Howell, who only last year took over from Bell as executive director of Jamaica’s operations, says plans are being put in place despite all the uncertainties. He wants his administrative team to be up and ready as soon as the green light comes from the relevant authorities.

“We’ll see how things play out and then we can reschedule in the appropriate time. The co-ordinators and I have agreed that as soon as we have an idea of what is happening, we will put priorities in place and move gradually so that we can have everything going.

“This is a situation in which we keep our eyes open and stay abreast of what the situation is. I think we’ll have a smooth transition because we have this thing planned already — we want to start up as soon as we get the go-ahead. We have to just look down the road and prepare,” Howell explained.

Despite the optimistic planning, Howell conceded the fallout due to the spread of the coronavirus has been hard to take.

“It’s a disappointment because when you look at the preparation for the Winter Games that’s something we have been doing for the last two years. The skaters had been training on a regular basis.

“We had the healthy athletes screening that we had planned for Portland, but that is put on hold. When you look at the healthy athletes screening there are people in some parishes that really need some attention.

“Our national games, we have to put that on hold. And our football tournament that we were planning to have in the western region [of the island] for the age group levels has to be put on hold as well.

“With the national games, it’s what these athletes look forward to. This is their [version of] Boys’ and Girls’ Championships, and they all look out for it. It’s disappointing, but again, we just have to explain to them the situation,” he told the Observer.

In addition, Howell explained that measures have been taken to safeguard the health of SOJ staff.

“The administrative [arm] is still functioning, but what we do is to alternate the staff to limit the numbers. We have to be aware so that we don’t expose staff as well, so we have to take all the precaution[s]. We have remained in contact with other members of the community through telephone calls,” the SOJ executive director said.