Unified Sports

It’s a crisp sunny day in late spring at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The 2024 NIRSA National Basketball Championships are taking place and two teams from Michigan are in town looking to bring home the championship.

The gymnasium at Perth Amboy High School is at capacity with the student body, gearing up for the traditional students vs. teachers basketball game.

As the world celebrates the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on 6 April, it's a moment to truly grasp the profound impact that sports have in uplifting those often sidelined within their communities and nations.

The following is an article published by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) on the growth and development of Special Olympics golfers and the sport of golf through Special Olympics’ partnership with Topgolf:

In 2023, Topgolf and Special Olympics joined forces in a new global partnership with one driving ambition – to get more Special Olympics golfers playing the game.

It’s a cold and windy weekend in the quiet college town of Stillwater, Oklahoma, but despite it being winter break for Oklahoma State University, you can hear the cheers of students. The campus is playing host to the NIRSA Flag Football national championships, an opportunity for campus rec teams to come together and compete for the trophy and bragging rights. Among the competitors is a group of people truly committed to the inclusive power of sports: the seven teams in the Special Olympics College Club Unified division.

Josh Basile, from accessiBe, had the pleasure of hosting a podcast episode centered around this year’s Capitol Hill Day event in Washington, D.C.

Rick Stonich’s Special Olympics Colorado journey started 23 years ago when he lived next door to an elderly couple who housed two people with intellectual disabilities. Now he's been a golf coach and Unified partner, finding fulfillment in the organization.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina athlete is a Special Olympics World Games champion in futsal and a regional champion in basketball. And that is only the beginning.

Throughout Washington D.C., Special Olympics athletes, Unified partners, and staff from 47 states and the District of Columbia are meeting with members of Congress to advocate for the continuance of funding for the movement’s life-changing work in education and health.