Welcome to Special Olympics!
Through the power of sports, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) discover new strengths and abilities, skills and success. Our athletes find joy, confidence and fulfillment — on the playing field and in life. They also inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential. There are approximately 120,000 people with IDD in Washington. Our goal is to reach out to every one of them – and their families as well.
Join Special Olympics Tri-Cities and be the best you can be!
To be eligible to participate in Special Olympics, athletes must:
Be at least 8 years old (children ages 2-1/2 to 7 are eligible to participate in the Young Athletes program).
Be diagnosed by an agency or professional as having one of the following conditions: intellectual disability; a cognitive delay as determined by standardized measures such as intelligence quotient or other generally accepted measures; or a closely related development disability, i.e., functional limitations in both general learning and adaptive skills.
Register your or your athlete in the Special Olympics Registration Portal (Portals.SpecialOlympics.org) and complete all required online forms including self-reported medical information and associated releases and waivers.
Agree to uphold the Special Olympics Athlete Code of Conduct.
Special Olympics Washington has recently moved their registration forms to an online portal. If you need help, please contact their help page (below) or you can ask our local office (509-783-1131 x201) but please be patient with us as we’re learning it too.
How to become an athlete:
STEP 1:
Use the online portal to register as a Special Olympic athlete.
STEP 2:
Get in contact with our local Tri-Cities office! As each season approaches, you’ll need to sign up for the specific sport you want to participate in.
RESOURCES:
Registering yourself as an athlete? Find quick instructions here or the full user guide here.
Registering an athlete on their behalf? Find quick instructions here or the full user guide here.
Find more resources on our Portal Resources page or email Special Olympics WA at PortalSupport@sowa.org.
For information on how to become a Unified partner, please click here.