OPPORTUNITIES IN SPORT

Training

Special Olympics Ontario training programs are community-based and work at a grassroots level. Sport clubs are located in communities across the province that are responsible for offering training opportunities in various sports. Programs are offered, and run, at the local level by a dedicated group of volunteers.

Local Competition

The province is divided into a number of sport specific conferences, these conference boundaries are determined based on the size of each sport.

Each conference is responsible for organizing conference competitions for registered clubs each sport season. Competitions give athletes an opportunity to demonstrate sports skills they have learned in practice and also let them have fun and meet other athletes.

Provincial Qualifiers

Once every four years each sport conference hosts a Provincial Qualifier. Eligible athletes that attend these competitions have the ability to be identified for advancement to the Provincial Games.

Major Games

All eligible athletes, regardless of ability level, have the opportunity to be identified for advancement to Major Games as long as they participated at the proceeding qualifying competition and meet all eligibility requirements.

Seasonal Provincial Games are held once every four years. Special Olympics Ontario has three sport seasons: Spring, Summer and Winter.

National Games rotate between Summer and Winter Games every two years.

World Games rotate between Summer and Winter Games every two years.

For our current Games Cycle please see the Competition section of this library.