Divisioning Process for Team Sports
Step 1: Divide Team by Gender
Divide teams into two groups based upon gender. Female teams shall compete against other female teams and male teams shall compete against other male teams. Mixed gender teams are permissible and shall compete against other mixed gender teams or, if there are not enough mixed gender teams, against male teams.
Teams shall compete against other teams of the same gender, unless there is only one male or one female team within the competition. That team shall be divisioned with teams of the opposite gender who are of similar age and ability.
Step 2: Divide Athletes by Age
The age group of a team is determined by the age of the oldest athlete on that team on the opening date of the competition. Divide male and female teams into the age groups listed below. An additional group may be established if there are a sufficient number of teams in the "22 and over" age group.
| |
| Age Groups |
| 15 and under |
| 16-21 |
| 22 and over | |
Step 3: Divide Athletes by Ability
All Special Olympics team sport competitions shall utilize the sports specific skill assessment tests and a preliminary seeding round to assess the level of ability of the participating teams.
Group teams according to ability based on the skills assessment tests and results from the preliminary seeding round. Create divisions of no more than eight teams by applying age groups to the teams within each ability group. If you do not have enough athletes in an age group, age groups may be combined to create divisions.
If there are only two male or two female teams within the competition, these teams shall compete against each other.
If there is only one team within an age or ability group, that team must be divisioned with other teams, regardless of age or ability.
