Kilkenny Special Olympics Club in Hall of Fame

The Kilkenny Special Olympics Club has just been inducted into the Gala Hall of Fame.
Set up in recognition of the work and effort from athletes, coaches and volunteers in Special Olympics Clubs across the country, the Gala Hall of Fame aims to highlight the good work of these clubs. The Kilkenny Special Olympics Club was welcomed into the Gala Hall of Fame by Gala representatives, Christopher Curtin, Fresh Food Executive with Gala Retail and local Gala retailers John De Loughry from Gala, Talbots Inch Service Station and Maurice Nolan of Nolan’s Gala in Ardnore, who presented the club with a ‘Gala Hall of Fame’ certificate and a gift hamper during the presentation at a Club training session.
Speaking at the presentation, Christopher said: “Through Gala’s ongoing partnership with Special Olympics and our employees’ attendance at various regional activities and events, we have constantly been impressed with the level of commitment and effort from the athletes, volunteers and coaches from each Special Olympics Club.
“Gala created the ‘Gala Hall of Fame’ as a recognition of this hard work, providing clubs with a token of our admiration for the work they do in communities across Ireland.”
Kilkenny Special Olympics Club was founded in 1990 to provide sporting opportunities for people in the area with intellectual disabilities, and today caters for 42 athletes.
The club train weekly with a team of 27 volunteers who give their time to assist with training, sporting and fundraising events throughout the year.
Gala’s partnership with Special Olympics began in 2015 when the retail convenience group sponsored Team Ireland’s attendance at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles. Since then the Group has committed to a further 4-year sponsorship, which has seen the group support Team Ireland at the Special Olympics Winter Games, as well as ongoing regional activities and events throughout the year and support for the Special Olympics Ireland Games. The partnership will continue for the Special Olympics Summer World Games in Abu Dhabi in 2019.