In 2026, the brightest beacon of inclusion is coming to Minnesota!
The 2026 Special Olympics USA Games will bring together 4,000 athletes, 1,500 coaches, 10,000 volunteers and 75,000 fans from all 50 states right here to Minnesota. Learn more about how you can get involved in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
We won’t start finalizing the roster for Team Minnesota until 2025. Until then, the best way to get involved in the inclusion revolution is to start TODAY! Athletes, Unified partners and coaches who have been a part of the organization for an extended time will be given priority to participate on Team Minnesota in 2026.
It will take an estimated 10,000 volunteers to make the 2026 USA Games a success! While you eagerly await for 2026, consider volunteering for a local competition or event. Check out the hundreds of volunteer opportunities Special Olympics Minnesota has every year.
Sponsors and partners play a key role in making the Special Olympics USA Games a world-class event. There are multiple levels of partnership and investment opportunities available which may also include value-in-kind donations.
FAQs
We try very hard to give priority to athletes who have not had a chance to go to USA Games or World Games in the past. However, there are situations where athletes who have attended before do get selected to go again.
No. Each athlete on Team Minnesota can only participate in one sport.
You can apply to be selected for any of the sports you are eligible for. If/when you are selected for a sport, you will be removed from eligibility for the other sports.
Most athletes selected must be able to function within the required 4:1 coach ratio. However, depending on the number of quota spots allocated to us, we will have the flexibility to select some athletes that require a chaperone.
For most sports, you do need to win a gold medal in your division at the qualifying event to be on the list of eligible athletes. For some sports or events, we may add silver, bronze or other athletes to the eligibility list as well. This decision depends on the number of athletes that participate in a given sport or event.
It depends on when we receive our quota allotment from the 2026 USA Games Committee as well as when our delegation must be submitted to the Committee. More than likely, our state Summer Games in 2025 will be a qualifying competition as well as 2025 State Powerlifting, but all other sports will likely have qualifying competitions during state competitions in 2024 (e.g., bocce, bowling, flag football, golf, softball). This information is subject to change.
No. It means you are eligible to complete the application and go through the process of applying to be on Team Minnesota.
All coaches are selected through an application process. They must be active Level 2-certified coaches within Special Olympics Minnesota. If you would like to coach as part of Team Minnesota, we encourage you to apply! Applications will be available in mid 2024.