Tara has been involved, in a variety of different roles, with Special Olympics PEI since 2002, before starting to volunteer with health programs in 2016 when she became a Clinical Director for Strong Minds. 

Tara is one of the most recent recipients of the Golisano Health Leadership Awards and is a long-time Healthy Athletes Champions. Tara developed a Mental Skills Toolkit through her business, Ahead in The Game, that she uses with Special Olympics athletes on provincial and national teams to enhance their performance on the field of play and in life. She uses this, and later along with a Ahead in the Game phone application, to support the training for athletes and coaches. This creates support for holistic training while ensuring athlete minds are healthy, like their bodies. Tara offers individual and group mental skills training sessions to expand on the toolkit, app, and Strong Minds.

Naturally, when Special Olympics International was looking into an 8th Health discipline, Special Olympics PEI invited Tara to be a part of this process and take part in the first training of Strong Minds Clinical Directors along with the pilot phases. Her toolkit and phone app, created before the Strong Minds discipline, had many similarities to the strategies used in the new Strong Minds.

Special Olympics PEI's members appreciate Tara so much!  She has a natural comfort level of working with individuals who have an intellectual disability. She empowers athletes to step up in leadership roles and has inspired those around her to get engaged in many initiatives associated with Special Olympics. She is a leader in the sports network on PEI and is a voice who advocates for Special Olympics and inclusive communities in any way she can.

HEALTH ATHLETES

The Healthy Athletes program is dedicated to providing health services and education to Special Olympics athletes, and changing the way health systems interact with people with intellectual disabilities. All screenings are free to the athletes and occur throughout the year.

CLINICAL DIRECTORS

Clinical Directors are an important part of the Health Athletes team. Clinical Directors are responsible for working with Special Olympics PEI and other volunteer health professionals in coordinating Healthy Athletes screenings.  Meet the rest of PEI's Clinical Directors.