❄️ Hey Team Casper!

We can’t wait for another amazing winter season — on the mountain and in the gym! Here’s everything you need to know as we get ready to kick things off.

🏔️ Save the Dates

Area 5 Winter Games: Sunday, February 1, 2026 — Casper Mountain

State Winter Games: February 24–26, 2026 — Jackson, Wyoming
(More details coming soon!)

🎿 New This Season: Cross-Country Skiing is Back!

We’re thrilled to share that Casper Mountain Biathlon Club is partnering with us to bring cross-country skiing back this winter!

When: Saturdays, 1:00–3:00 p.m. Starting Dec 6th.
Where: Casper Mountain Biathlon Venue (1110 E. End Road, Casper Mountain)
Equipment: Provided on site

Coaches include members of the Biathlon Club (plus me, Cathy!), and we’d love to have more volunteer coaches join us.

👉 If you’re interested in participating — as an athlete, unified partner, or volunteer coach — please reach out right away so we can gauge interest and make sure we’re ready for you.

⛷️🏂 Alpine Skiing & Snowboarding

We’re planning to start mid-December, depending on snow conditions.

We’re still short on coaches this year, so athletes should plan to come with a parent, caregiver, or support person who can be on the snow with them. Anyone accompanying an athlete will need to register as a volunteer and complete a short on-snow training.

If you don’t have someone to fill that role, please reach out — we’ll do our best to help find support.
And if you or someone you know would like to coach Alpine or Snowboard, we’d love to hear from you!

Current Coaches: Jeff & Christy Garner, Robert Peterson, Rylie Garner, and Cathy Nyrkkanen

❄️ Snowshoeing

Dryland training is already underway!

When: Saturdays at 1:00 p.m.
Location: Sunrise Shopping Center (location may vary)
Coach: Wally Akre — who has been leading the Snowshoe program for over 30 years!

Wally is incredible (and in his 80s!) but we need additional volunteers to support this program. If you can help on snow, or especially if you’re able to travel with the team to Jackson for State Games, please let us know.

🏀 Basketball

Our 5-on-5 team is already practicing with Coach Christine Coffey, and 3-on-3 will start later this spring.

While basketball competition takes place at Summer Games in May, practices are starting now — so if you want to join, now’s the time!

🧸 Teddy Bear Tea Fundraiser

We’re gathering volunteers and athletes to help with the annual Teddy Bear Tea — one of the sweetest events of the year!

All proceeds from the Teddy Bear Tea Tree (auctioned at the Festival of Trees) go directly to the Casper team.
The rest of the Festival supports the statewide program, but this tree is our team’s fundraiser — so let’s rally around it!

We’ll need:

🎁 Athletes to help at the Teddy Bear Tea event

🧤 Donations of new hats, gloves, and teddy bears for the tree

🙌 Big community support to help drive a bidding war for our tree this year!

📅 Event Link: Festival of Trees
Please let me know if you'd like to help with Teddy Bear Tea — I’ll be sending our list to the state office soon.

💪 Volunteers Needed

We are currently seeking volunteers for:

Alpine & Snowboard

Cross-Country Ski

Snowshoe

Basketball (Christine is leading 5v5 — we need a 3v3 coach and assistants!)

Teddy Bear Tea (Nov 19)

Local Program Management Team — current members:

Mary Long (Equipment Manager)

Dawn Lacko (Treasurer)

Cathy Nyrkkanen (Coordinator)

Vacancies: Secretary, Registration Manager, Fundraising, Volunteer Recognition

Jackalope Jump Planning Committee (Nathan Vondra is leading, but we need more help!)

If you’d like to help this season — on the snow, behind the scenes, or with team organization — we have a role for you!

Our Casper program is 100% volunteer-run, with over 100 athletes across four seasons and many sports, including:
Snowshoe • Cross-Country • Alpine • Snowboard • Basketball • Swimming • Athletics (Track) • Unified Golf • Bowling • Softball • Bocce • Soccer • Cycling • Powerlifting

The state office organizes the area and statewide competitions, but our Casper delegation’s management, coaching, and practices are entirely run by volunteers.
If you’ve ever thought about helping, now’s the time — we’d love to have you!

👕 Team Shirts Project

We’ve had a lot of requests for team shirts for Opening Ceremonies — and we love the idea!
We’re looking for a volunteer to lead this project, with the goal of having shirts ready for Winter Games and using the same ones for Summer and Fall so Casper can shine as one unified team.

🧊 Upcoming Events

Jackalope Jump – February/March (Date TBD)
We’ll need volunteers for the planning committee — it’s always a great time and one of our biggest team fundraisers!

A Big Shout out to our Fall Coaches! Ben, Vicky and Clint who are amazing at leading our very large Bowling team in both Summer and Fall Bowling!! Ron Parton, Jason & Laura Paige - Our most appreciated Soccer Coaches! And Rick Gallinger our Fall Bocce Coach!



Thank you all for everything you do — our athletes, coaches, and families make this program what it is.
We’re so proud of how much this community gives and shows up for one another.

Let’s make it another amazing winter season!

Please get in touch if you can help or would like to participate!

With gratitude,
Cathy Nyrkkanen
Casper Special Olympics Volunteer Local Coordinator
📞 (307) 215-4054
📧 specialolympicscasper@gmail.com