Special Olympics was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown from a few hundred athletes to more than 3.7 million athletes in over 170 countries in all regions of the world, providing year-round sports training, athletic competition and other related programs.
Special Olympics New Zealand (SONZ) offers a year-round programme of sports training and competition for children and adults with an intellectual disability.
More than 5,000 athletes throughout New Zealand participate in the 13 different Olympic-type summer and winter sports offered by Special Olympics New Zealand.
Athletes are supported by over 1,500 volunteers and partners.
While sports is the basis of the organisation, the benefits of participating in Special Olympics are much greater than physical fitness.
SONZ changes lives. Through participating in sport, athletes with intellectual disabilities make friends, gain confidence and get to be part of a team.
As athletes develop physically and emotionally, they learn that they can achieve not only on the sports field, but in their wider community.
Special Olympics New Zealand enriches the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through sport. People with intellectual disabilities in Aotearoa are valued.
The Sports currently available on the West Coast are:
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