TO: Special Olympics Maine (SOME) athletes, coaches, volunteers, and Unified Partners
FROM: The Special Olympics Maine State Office
DATE: March 31, 2021
RE: Required Communicable Disease Release of Liability Waiver
We hope this finds you doing well, staying healthy and active, and looking forward to springtime and the opportunity to get back to more activities. With this exciting thought and time of the year, comes additional risk (due to COVID) with the responsibility of keeping everyone involved with Special Olympics safe. To that end, we are writing to inform everyone that Special Olympics, Inc; now requires ALL registered athletes, coaches, volunteers, and Unified Partners to sign the Communicable Disease Release of Liability Waiver, prior to participating in any Special Olympics in-person events. This will take effect immediately. The waiver, as well as the different ways to complete and submit it, is included in this distribution.
This waiver is not meant to replace the COVID-19 Code of Conduct and Risk Management Form (as you will read below) but meant to be in “addition to”. And we must all remember how important it is to continue to follow the SOME Back to Play (B2P) Protocols, our own State Protocols, as well as individual facility protocols, when conducting in-person SOME activities. We hope the information below, taken directly from the memo we received from SOI, will help to answer any additional questions you might have, as well as help to understand the spirit for which this waiver was put in place. As always, we are available for any follow-up questions and/or concerns you might have. Thank you for your attention to this important matter as we all look forward to springtime and returning to play.
Communicable Disease Participant Waiver
Choose 1 of 2 options to complete the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver below:
- DocuSign (recommended) – Click here to complete & submit the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver online through DocuSign.
- PDF – Follow the steps below to complete the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver:
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- Download Communicable Disease Participant Waiver
- Open saved Communicable Disease Waiver & complete
- Save completed form with the name of the participant (i.e. Communicable Disease Waiver – John Doe). Please submit all communicable disease waivers by 1 of 3 options below:
- BY EMAIL (recommended): mikel@somaine.org
- BY FAX: 1-888-490-0672
- BY MAIL: Special Olympics Maine, 125 John Roberts Rd #5, South Portland, ME 04106
Communicable Disease Participant Waiver FAQs
- What is it? The release of liability waiver is designed to protect Special Olympics, U.S. Programs (SOME) and its directors, officers, sponsors, etc. from liability arising from the actual or alleged spread of communicable disease at a Special Olympics activity.
- Who is required to sign the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver? All registered athletes, coaches, volunteers, and Unified Partners; when participating in sanctioned Special Olympics activities; including fundraising events, but only when the participant has a specific role and is acting at the direction of the Program (e.g., event volunteer, Global Messenger giving a speech, etc.)
(However, for in-person fundraising activities, we recommend using a release of liability waiver for all paying/registered event participants which includes a release for claims arising from a communicable disease.)
- Does this waiver replace the COVID-19 Participant Code of Conduct and Risk Assessment Form? No. Continue to have participants complete the COVID-19 Participant Code of Conduct and Risk Assessment Form in addition to the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver.
- Are minor athletes required to sign/submit the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver? The waiver includes a section for the parents/guardians of participants under the age of majority to sign. This section should also be used for those participants over the age of 18 that are not their own guardian.
- When does the requirement go into effect? Effective immediately, the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver will need to be signed by all participants as outlined above, regardless if a participant has previously completed the COVID-19 Participant Code of Conduct and Risk Assessment Form.
- Is an electronic communicable disease waiver acceptable? Yes, the Communicable Disease Participant Waiver can be converted to an electronic waiver so long as the signed communicable disease waiver is available in the event of a claim for at least 7 years from the date of the activity.
- How often does the communicable disease waiver need to be signed? The Communicable Disease Participant Waiver should be signed at the time the participant returns to in-person activities. Given the fluid nature of the waiver requirement and pandemic, we are suggesting that the communicable disease waiver be signed again at the time of the athlete medical renewal for athletes and at the time of the renewal for Level A volunteers. As the coverage and pandemic status changes, the communicable disease waiver requirement will be reevaluated.
Click here to read the SOME’s full Communicable Disease Release of Liability Memo. Please do share this information and update with your athletes and their families. As always, we are available for any follow-up questions and/or concerns you might have. Thank you for your attention to this important matter as we all look forward to springtime and returning to play.