A Fife woman has spoken of her pride after being selected as the Head of Delegation for next year’s Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.
Laura Baxter, 34, who is originally from Gauldry and attended Balmerino Primary School, will spearhead Team SOGB and will be responsible for the successful preparation, participation and evaluation of the 129 athletes travelling from these shores next spring to compete alongside 7,000 Special Olympians from 168 countries around the world.
Along with her assistant Heads of Delegation, she is planning the logistics for the team and organising training weekends.
With under a year to go, Laura, who has a three-year-old daughter named Mia with her husband Stevie, said it was an “absolute honour” to be fulfilling a role of a lifetime.
“The athletes who take part in Special Olympic activities inspire me to do the best I can for them so that each contact that they have with me is an experience that they can treasure,” she said.
“For the athletes, I hope to contribute to them having a first class experience on the world stage, learning a new culture and broadening their horizon through opportunity.
“On a personal note though I would like to further my experience of Special Olympics in a leadership capacity and cement my future involvement in the movement.
“I want our athletes to shine on the world stage and embrace the once in a lifetime experience.”
All Special Olympics involvement is voluntary, so Laura usually combines being a busy wife and mum with running her own business and devoting more than 20 hours a week to Special Olympics.
The former Madras College pupil and Abertay University student married her husband Stevie in 2010 and moved to Auckland in New Zealand the following year to pursue a career opportunity, but the family moved back to Scotland two years ago.
She runs a sport capability consultancy called Lead to Exceed and is also head of sport and competition for the Special Olympics GB Anniversary Games in Stirling this coming August.
Looking ahead to next year though, Laura is delighted to be the youngest ever Head of Delegation for a Special Olympics GB team attending a World Summer Games by seven years.
“Since joining Special Olympics in 2008 I have thoroughly enjoyed being involved and I wish to step in to a leadership role at future events as well as be part of the board structure in years to come to contribute to positive impact for the athletes,” she added.
“This movement is volunteer led and athlete driven so we need to ensure positive experiences for all involved in Team SOGB. “
