Impacting children, families and community through sport
This week the New Jersey Special Olympics Summer Games came to a close and today a legislative panel passed a resolution recognizing the significant contributions to the world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
“The positive impact Special Olympics has on the lives of the athletes and their families cannot be understated,” said Assemblyman Erik Peterson, a prime sponsor of the resolution. “The athletes are inspiring and the organization creates an inclusive community where everyone has the opportunity to lead fuller, healthier lives.”
The Special Olympics provides year-round training and competitions to more than five million athletes in over 170 nations. It offers 32 Olympic-type sports and over 100,000 competitions throughout the year.
“The Special Olympics builds bridges, eliminates misconceptions and transforms lives through sports,” said Peterson.
On both the global and state level, the scope of the organization is great. It offers health, education and community building in addition to its well-known sports programming. The Healthy Athletes initiative, which conducts free health examinations, is the largest global public health program dedicated to serving individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Special Olympics New Jersey serves more than 25,000 athletes across the state. Nearly 2,500 athletes competed in the Summer Games at TCNJ’s campus this weekend.
The resolution now heads to the Assembly floor.