Program areas at SOPA
Sports training and competition: Special Olympics Pennsylvania (sopa) offered 505 traditional and unified competitions which is an increase of 171 from last year. Competition is offered in a variety of olympic-type sports for individuals with intellectual disabilities, athletes, 8 years or older. All training and competition opportunities are provided free of charge to the athletes and their families, enabling everyone to experience the benefits of Special Olympics that extend well beyond the playing field. The Special Olympics experience fills a critical need in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for physical activity, social interaction, and the demonstration of competence to themselves, their families and the community. Athletes learn developmental and life skills as the benefits of participation translate beyond sports, helping them to live more independent and rewarding lives. Special Olympics also provides a positive venue for families, volunteers, and donors to become part of a caring community, and to become involved in the movement.
Healthy athletes is designed to improve athletes' health and fitness in order to enhance their ability to train and compete in Special Olympics. All of these programs are non-invasive screenings designed to offer additional support at no cost to our athletes and their families. In 2022, we offered over 1,400 screenings in the 7 disciplines: fit feet (podiatry), funfitness (physical therapy), opening eyes (vision), health promotion (better health & wellness), Special smiles (dentistry), healthy hearing (audiology) and strong minds (adaptive coping skills).
Special Olympics unified sports creates an opportunity for individuals with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete together as teammates. In 2022 sopa hosted 421 unified competitions. Interscholastic unified sports is a school-based unified sports program where students with and without intellectual disabilities are combined for school activities, youth leadership programs, and athletic competitions. At completion of the 2021-2022 school year, sopa was in 284 schools which is an increase of 50 schools from the 2020-2021 school year.