Special Olympics New Zealand

Young Athletes

Young Athletes
Now in Auckland!

Register today in our internationally recognised programme for 2-10 year-olds!

Join a Club

Join a Club

Athlete, coach or volunteer - contact your local club to get involved.

Whether as a athlete, coach or volunteer contact your local club to learn how to get involved.

National Summer Games

National Summer Games
8-12 December 2022

New 2022 dates for the National Summer Games announced

Get excited for one of Aotearoa's largest multi-sport events!

200 Days to Go
Club Challenge!

We’re celebrating 200 days to go until the Freemasons NZ Special Olympics National Summer Games with an awesome photo challenge with $1500 to give away to winning clubs!

Learn more about the challenge and submit your photo before 21 May 2022 to be in to win!

200 Days to Go Club Challenge!

Young Athletes
Auckland Programmes

We’re excited to launch our internationally recognised sport and play programme in Auckland!

Designed for children aged 2-10 years-old with and without intellectual disabilities, Young Athletes introduces basic sport and motor skills such as running, kicking and throwing, as well as improving important social skills such as learning to share, playing with others, taking turns and following directions.

Learn more & sign up today

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Events Calendar

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Latest News

Berlin 2023 World Games Head of Delegation announced

Berlin 2023 World Games Head of Delegation announced

May 10, 2022467

Swimmers back on track at Canterbury’s first event of 2022

Swimmers back on track at Canterbury’s first event of 2022

May 10, 202248

200 Days to Go!

200 Days to Go!

May 12, 2022435

Latest News

Berlin 2023 World Games Head of Delegation announced

Rowena Massey appointed Head of Delegation for 2023 Berlin World Summer Games 10 May 2022 Special Olympics New Zealand (SONZ) is pleased …

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Swimmers back on track at Canterbury’s first event of 2022

Special Olympics swimmers from across Canterbury and the West Coast were thrilled at their first 2022 event!

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200 Days to Go!

We’re celebrating 200 Days to Go until the National Summer Games and we have a special Club Challenge worth $1500!

Read More

May 2022 Fanletter

Check out our May Fanletter for the latest news in our community!

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Young Athletes returns to Welly!

The Young Athletes Programme is returning to Wellington and highlights from our Term 1 programmes!

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April Club Highlights!

Whether at home, at training or at some of the first competitions of the year, see our favourite club highlights …

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Connect With Us

Here is a amazing story to brighten up your Monday

Here is a amazing story to brighten up your Monday!

Check out this great interview with Special Olympics Australian athlete Chris who tells his story on becoming visible with Special Olympics!

#SpecialOlympicsAU #Positivity #Inclusion #DisabilityAwareness #Australia #Athlete #Amazing #MondayMotivation #SOAU #HappyMonday #Interview

We're so excited to announce that volunteer Rowena

We're so excited to announce that volunteer Rowena Massey from Counties has been selected as Head of Delegation for the 2023 Berlin World Summer Games!

She said "I'm very excited to take on this role, it's something I've always wanted to do and with the experience I have behind me, I know I am ready for the challenge."

#Berlin2023 #WorldSummerGames #SpecialOlympics #Competitions #Sports #DisabilityAwareness #Inclusion #Athletes #Events
#Coaches

Happy New Zealand Sign Language Week.🦻🏻🧏🏻‍♀️🧏🏻‍♂️

This week in NZ it is all about showing love to one of our 3 offical languages!

Here a video of our South Regional sport coordinator (upper North Island) Helen Ferguson and our Social Media Assistant Sarah Dalton showing us some signs!

#NZSLWeek #SpecialOlympicsNZ #HardOfHearing #Inclusion #Deaf
#Deafness #HearingLoss #SONZ
#SportCoordinator #NewZealand #Disability #DisabilityAwareness
#Signs #NZSignLanguageWeek
#SocialMediaAssistant #NZ

Special Olympics New Zealand is in the 2022 Barfoo

Special Olympics New Zealand is in the 2022 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Marathon! Come along on Sunday, 30 Oct 2022 and you can fundraise for us.

By fundraising for us you are helping us provide the opportunity for everyone to experience the joy and benefits of sport and participate without barriers and create a more inclusive Aotearoa.

#Fundraising #IntellectualDisabilities #BarfootAndThompson #Marathon
#Experience #Inclusion #Aotearoa #Health #Confidence #Friends #SpecialOlympicsNZ #SONZ

Happy Mother’s Day!! 💐💕 Big shout out to

Happy Mother’s Day!! 💐💕

Big shout out to all the Mother’s within the Special Olympics NZ community. Hope you all have a great day and thank you so much for the help and support you give our athletes.

#HappyMothersDay #MothersDay #Mothers #SpecialOlympicsNZ #SONZ #Community #Athletes #HaveLovelyDay #ShoutOut
#Help #Support #ThankYou

Here are some club highlights to brighten up your

Here are some club highlights to brighten up your week!!

Last week many clubs attended a competition or got back into training for 2022. Check out theses highlights from some events and trainings across Aotearoa!

#ClubHighlights #BrightenUp
#SONZ #SpecialOlympicsNZ
#Competition #Events #2022
#Training #Athletes #Photos

We can't wait for our second ever Outward Bound At

We can't wait for our second ever Outward Bound Athlete Leaders course from 30 Aug - 6 Sep, open to all athletes who want to grow their leadership skills! 🚣🏾‍♂️⛵️⛺

Athlete Leader Chrissa Pearce is here to tell us about her experience completing the course in 2020, and how much she loved it! 😊

Applications close this Friday 29 April, email events@specialolympics.org.nz to apply!

#OutwardBound #AthleteLeadership #Adventure #Camp #Disability #SONZ #SpecialOlympicsNZ #Experience #Skills #Explore

Check out this amazing article on Athlete Leader G

Check out this amazing article on Athlete Leader Graeme Porter about his life as a athlete, a dad, basketball coach, race-car driver, former member of the Special Olympics NZ Board and full-time Aluminium joiner 😊

https://bit.ly/graemeporterworld

#Athlete #AthleteLeader #Basketball #SpecialOlympicsNZ #SONZ #Dad
#DisabilityAwareness #SONZBorad #AluminiumJoiner #Article #Coach #RaceCarDriver

Did you know that the Special Olympics movement st

Did you know that the Special Olympics movement started at a summer camp? Or that there are over 5 million athletes in 170 countries? 😮

It’s Wellness Wednesday and today we have this great article from from Mental Floss all to do with facts about Special Olympics.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/special-olympics-facts-history?

#SpecialOlympics #Facts #Article #Positivity #WellnessWednesday #Wellness #DisabilityAwareness
#HaveAGreatDay #Sports

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