SONC Sports – In a New Package! -
Frequently Asked Questions &
Latest Info
Most importantly, what are the benefits to the athletes?
Our main reason for making a change is to make improvements to the program for the
athletes.
We want this program to continue getting better and better and reaching more
and more athletes!
The benefits for athletes are:

Improved programming at the local level.

More competition opportunities in their area.

Reaching new athletes resulting in new friendships and sense of community.

Better training for coaches.

More focus on extended sport training and overall health benefits of sport
(nutrition, fitness)

A greater experience at state-level events.

The opportunity to participate in the additional programs SONC has to offer (Young
Athletes, health programs, Athlete Leadership Programs, Unified Sports, etc.)
Are These Changes Being Made To Save Money?
No. This change will not save us any money. These changes are solely intended to shift
to a sport model that will be sustainable and allow SONC to increase quality and reach
more athletes.
Is The Calendar Finalized?
No. The calendar will be finalized at the SONC Leadership Conference.
When will this begin?
These changes will begin in the fall of 2015.
Why will SONC no longer provide qualifiers leading up to state-level events?
SONC will include preliminary screening in the state-level events to collect the
information needed for divisioning (much like we used to do for basketball) depending
on the sport.
This will allow SONC staff to shift their focus from running nearly 60
qualifying events a year to working with local programs to improve and increase the sport
training happening at the local level.
What will state-level competition look like?
Summer Games and Fall Tournament will return to a full weekend event with:

a full Opening Ceremonies

screening rounds for sport

time allotted for health screenings

a dance and full Olympic Town

overnight stays
What is the benefit to the local programs?

Local program coordinators can spend more time developing local opportunities for
athletes rather than constantly completing registration paperwork and making
travel arrangements for multiple qualifying events.

SONC staff support can increase for local programs to assist with coach recruitment
and training, transportation challenges, athlete outreach and fundraising.

SONC staff can devote time to increasing local program partnerships with Project
UNIFY schools and Torch Run efforts.
Athlete Questions
How can I choose between two sports that I regularly play currently?
Athletes will have to choose between sports but several athletes already choose between
sports – like aquatics and athletics. There are many options for athletes:
 Always choose to dedicate your time to your favorite sport.
You may now have the
chance to really concentrate on getting really good at that one sport.
 You could still attend practices and local events for a second sport and just not attend
Summer Games in that sport.
 This could be a chance for you to try a new sport during the season that has now
opened up for you (i.e if you always did basketball in the spring, now you could start
training in aquatics).
 You could alternate sports and do one the first year and do the other the following
year (i.e. do powerlifting one year and aquatics the next).
Won’t participation in team sports go down?
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We do think participation is going to change in the first year as everyone makes different
choices.
This is, however, a great chance to rebuild teams and welcome new athletes to
team sports.
We have basically hosted the same 25 teams at softball Summer Games
competition for several years. How great would it be to allow this sport to grow and have
some regional invitationals with new athletes involved?!?
Does this mean I won’t get to compete as much?
This new plan is not intended to take away competitions but it is, instead, designed to
start offering competitions in a different way. SONC could never host the many thousands
of athletes at state-level events but if we make these changes, we can work on offering
more competitions at the local level.
SONC staff can help local coordinators offer more
program competitions, set up league play for teams, or even host invitationals for athletes
in surrounding counties.
Will I still get to go to every Summer Games?
You might not go to every Summer Games like you have in the past. SONC wants as many
athletes as possible to experience a state-level event so that means working with the
programs to invite new people as much as possible.
The state-level events have to set
numbers for each sport so we can be sure we offer the best experience possible.
This
means quota will be used for all sports.
Will my local program have to get more vehicles for transportation to these large statelevel events?
If your local program decides to bring more athletes, yes more vehicles will be needed but
transportation is one of the biggest challenges for local programs and the sport calendar
adjustment is designed to give SONC staff more time to assist local programs with finding
good sources of transportation.
Who will coach all of these sports because right now my coach covers three different sports
for the program?
A big need in Special Olympics right now is new coaches.
This calendar change will
force us all to work on coach recruitment and the SONC sport and volunteer departments
look forward to working side-by-side with local programs to help bring in and train new
coaches.
And this will help take a lot of responsibilities off of those wonderful people
who have been coaching multiple sports for many years for SONC!
Will my local program have to spend more money to attend a state-level event?
SONC is planning on changing the games fees structure to help cover the cost of offering a
full weekend event for summer and fall so yes, it will cost the local program more money.
Local programs will, however, be able to spend money they once used for travel to various
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qualifiers and multiple state-level events on just two events a year. Additionally, SONC
staff will be able to provide more assistance with local program fundraising moving
forward.
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