GAMES AND COMPETITION

Involvement with Special Olympics provides athletes at all levels of ability with opportunities to compete at the regional, provincial, national ,and international level. There are also opportunities for athletes to participate in generic competitions.
 
COMPETITION CYCLE
 
Special Olympics BC competitions are run on a four-year cycle:
  • Year 1: Regional Qualifiers
  • Year 2: Provincial Qualifiers
  • Year 3: National Qualifiers
  • Year 4: World Games
 
DIVISIONING
 
Special Olympics' unique divisioning process makes Special Olympics competitions unique from those of other sports organizations. Through divisioning, all Special Olympics competitions and Games, are structured so that athletes compete with others of similar ability in equitable divisions. Athletes are grouped in competition divisions according to event, ability level, age, and gender in all Special Olympics sports.
 
Athletes of all ability levels are encouraged to compete and every athlete is recognized for his or her performance.
 
ADVANCEMENT CRITERIA
 
To be eligible for advancement to the next level of competition, athletes must compete at the previous level of competition.

To determine which athletes will advance in each sport, points are assigned to each placing an athlete achieves.  Athletes with the highest placing in an age category move forward to the next level.  Again, this process allows athletes of all ability levels to move forward, since at each level, they are competing against those of similar levels of ability.

Other criteria determining an athlete’s ability to advance to the next level of competition are athlete behavior, training effort, and ability to travel independently of their home coach.
 
 
GENERIC COMPETITION
 
Participation of Special Olympics athletes in generic competitions allows Special Olympics to showcase the abilities of Special Olympics athletes to other athletes, coaches, and the general public. 
 
When selecting athletes and coaches for these competitions, Special Olympics BC must work within the parametres set by the Sport Governing Body of those competitions.  Coaches must meet the minimum certification level and athletes must meet the minimum criteria and age set out by each sport.  These critiera vary for each competition and are outlined to local programs as required.