To provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Special Olympics believes that through sports training and competition people with intellectual disabilities are benefited physically, mentally, socially and spiritually, families are strengthened, and the community at large, both through participation and observation, is united in understanding with intellectual disabilities in an environment of equality, respect and acceptance

Programs

• Athlethic Leadership: Special Olympics Athlete Leadership Programs empower athletes to explore opportunities for greater participation in our movement beyond sports training and competition: as coaches, officials, spokespeople and Board and committee members
  • Athlete Congress
  • Athlete Univerity
  • Athletes as volunteers, coaches and officials
  • Sargent Shriver Global Messengers
• College Unified Sports: College Unified Sports was inspired by a simple principle: training and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding. Each season, all of the participating colleges and Special Olympics athletes come together to Play Unified.
• Play Unified School Partnership: Special Olympics New Jersey partners with schools and districts to create inclusive sports and social programs that ensure physical education, athletics and fitness, and extra-curricular activities are accessible to all students.
• Special Olympics New Jersey Family Program: Connects Special Olympics families with new families and provides support and information in a critical time of need in the following ways:
  • Provides educational, sports and training workshops
  • Creates opportunities for family members to become advocates for the Special Olympics movement
  • Brings families together to share ideas, issues and common interests
  • Encourages new families to join Special Olympics
  • Builds strong communities

Programs offered year round at the Sports Complex located in Lawrenceville.

If you have any questions about becoming an athlete in your area, please contact your area director found below.

Area 10 Directors (Somerset County): Chris and Larry Hanko

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: (732) 390-1113

Address:P.O. Box 851
Somerville, NJ 08876

Area 4 Director (Hunterdon County): Joanne Monaco

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: (609) 896-8000

Address:1 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Way
Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648

Area 3 Director (Morris/Sussex/Warren Counties): Betty Lunn

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: (973) 398-6150

Address: 201 Tulsa Trail
Hopatcong, NJ 07843

Eligibility	Athletes must be at least 8 years old and identified by an agency or professional as having one of the following conditions: intellectual disability; a cognitive delay as determined by standardized measures such as intelligence quotient (IQ) or other generally accepted measures; or a closely related developmental disability, i.e., functional limitations in both general learning and adaptive skills.
Age Groups	Children Adolescents Adults Seniors
Community Services	Arts & Recreation Recreation / Social / Sports Community Volunteer Opportunities Family & Support Services Family Support
Health Services	Intellectual and Developmental Needs Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Special Needs
Payment Types	Free
Areas Served	State-Wide

Last Updated: 09/05/18