Nearly 1,100 Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners, individuals without intellectual disabilities, from across the state will compete in the 2022 Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) Fall Tournament, to be held Nov. 10-12 in the Charlotte area. Inclement weather on Friday has impacted the overall event schedule.
Athletes will compete in bocce, cycling, golf, roller skating, softball, soccer and tennis. The overall event schedule for competition is available online.
For the first time since 2019, SONC’s second largest state-level competition returns, taking place at venues in Charlotte, Indian Trail and Gastonia as well as cycling competition in Rock Hill, South Carolina. As Special Olympics athletes are not asked to pay for any of the cost associated with their participation, an event of this size requires a vast amount of resources, including the support of nearly 1,300 volunteers. Volunteer registration is still open.
Special Olympics athlete Annie Tane of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, will serve as a bocce official for the first time on Friday, Nov. 11 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Charlotte Concord Golf Resort & Spa at 5400 John Q Hammons Drive NW in Concord.
“It’s kind of interesting for me to be on the other side, rather than being an athlete,” said Tane. “It’s important because some athletes may not know what opportunities are out there. That was the situation for me, not even thinking I could do more than be an athlete when I started Special Olympics.”
Admission to all SONC Fall Tournament competition events is free and open to the public. For media inquiries, contact SONC Director of Communications Madeline Safrit at msafrit@sonc.net or (919)-719-7662 ext. 110.
Official 2022 SONC sponsors include: Supreme Level: Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics North Carolina; Championship Level: Sheetz, IDEAs that Work, Credit Suisse Americas Foundation, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Jersey Mike’s Subs, NC Knights of Columbus and Publix; Gold Level: Civitan International and Dunkin’ Donuts; Silver Level: BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, Duke Fuqua School of Business, United Way of the Greater Triangle, Prudential, Abound Health, A Caring Heart Case Management, Inc., AAA Carolinas, Golisano Foundation, Hyundai, DMJ, Metrographics, Lenovo, Bank of America, NFL Foundation, Wells Fargo, Erie Insurance and Vaya Health; Bronze Level: Digital Mettle, David and Nicole Tepper Foundation, State Employees Combined Campaign, Milestone Strategies, Finish Line, ESPN, Ellis & Winters LLP, Burger King, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Bayada Home Health Care; Honorary Delegation: Charlotte’s got a lot, Cisco, The Dale Jr. Foundation, Southland Dairy Farmers, ALKU, NC ABLE Program and Partners Health Management.
About Special Olympics North Carolina
Since 1968, the organization has used the transformative power of sports to improve the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Nearly 40,000 athletes in North Carolina inspire thousands of coaches, sports officials, local program committee members and event organizers involved in Special Olympics statewide. SONC offers year-round training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports on local and state levels as well as health and wellness initiatives to improve the health status and increase access to community health resources for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Youth become agents of change through Unified Champion Schools, an education and sports-based program created by Special Olympics to build an inclusive environment among youth with and without intellectual disabilities as well as empower them to become youth leaders and create change in their community. Visit Special Olympics North Carolina at www.specialolympicsnc.com. Engage with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
