What is the Special Olympic Athlete Leadership Program (ALPs)?
Special Olympics athletic leaders are the athletes themselves. The Special Olympics Athlete Leadership Programs (ALPs) allows athletes the opportunity to participate in Special Olympics athletics through a completely different and nontraditional manner; athletes can become members on the Special Olympics Board of Directors or committee members on local committees; they can also be spokespersons, representatives, team leaders, coaches or staff for Special Olympics.

The following are considered Athletic Leadership Programs

---		Letting an athlete decide how to participate in activities (For example, deciding which sport to partake in or deciding to become a coach).
		Encouraging an athlete to surpass his/her athletic role or to take on a greater and more meaningful role as an athlete leader.
		Welcoming, encouraging and/or being a part of the ALPs curriculum provided to the athlete.

The Concept of the Special Olympics Athlete Leadership Program

Below are the established goals of ALPs:

For athletes to become members of the Special Olympics Board of Directors
For athletes to become Special Olympics committee members
For athletes to become local committee members
For athletes to become athletic event management staff
For athletes to become commentators on athletic event evaluation committees
Training athletes to become Global Messengers
For athletes to become members of athletic legislative committees
For athletes to become representatives at Special Olympics leaders' meetings
For athletes to become coaches
For athletes to become Special Olympics staff
For athletes to become Special Olympics volunteers
For athletes to become Special Olympics donors
For athletes to be hired at Special Olympics venues
For athletes to become contributors to news bulletins

How to Start
The basic steps required:

For ALPs to be successful, the athletes must be interested in promoting the programs. The best way to disseminate information about the program to family, coaches and others who care about ALPs is through news bulletins and meetings.

Guide the participation of athletes through existing athletic leaders and the recommendations of regions and coaches. Use the ALPs concepts introduced above as standards for participation. Regional staff can obtain advice from regional leaders and regional leaders can obtain guidance from coaches.

Record and further develop ideas for ALPs, and at the same time inform Special Olympics about new ALPs.

During the implementation process of the program, discuss with the athlete his/her needs.

Ensure that the ideas you are developing are appropriate for all athletes and not just exceptionally skilled athletes.

Special Olympics athletes are preparing to eliminate obstacles that others believe will always exist and ALPs is intended to eliminate obstacles that are created within Special Olympics. These obstacles hinder the enjoyment that athletes get from experiencing self-leadership and meaningful participation in all aspects of Special Olympics sports.