News

Special Olympics Virginia is now accepting applications for the Global Messenger Class of 2021. The Global Messenger’s role with Special Olympics Virginia is to promote, educate and inform about the mission, philosophy and benefits of Special Olympics through public speaking, networking, and advocacy. Responsibilities and commitment include:

For this first time ever, Special Olympics Virginia offered a Youth Leadership Experience (YLE) at the 2019 Summer Games. The program brought together high school students, with and without intellectual disabilities, from across Virginia for a weekend of volunteering and training on how to be agents of change within their schools and communities. Two programs participated in the event, Wakefield High School (Arlington) and Monacan High School (Chesterfield).

On Mother’s Day in 2018, Billy Duquette bowled a 299. The score of 299 in bowling is almost infamous, it means you bowl 11 straight strikes and then miss the final frame by 1-pin. It’s the equivalent to throwing a perfect game in baseball up until the 9th inning with 2-outs and then giving up a hit.

19-year-old Joe Salter isn’t actually 19 years old like he says he is. He’s also not the fastest runner in the world like he says he is. However, Joe Salter is exactly who he wants to be, all of the time. He’s unapologetically Joe and he’s proud of it.

It was a day that Kenmore Middle School in Arlington will never forget. Back in September, ESPN announced on the air, their Top 5 National Banner Schools. Kenmore received the honor as a result of having met national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy and respect. Kenmore was one of five schools to receive the distinction, being chosen specifically out of 131 other schools around the country. They were also the only middle school to receive the prestigious honor.

Sarah’s journey with Special Olympics Virginia began in early 2016 when her employer, Virginia529, launched the ABLE savings program, ABLEnow. The ABLEnow program empowers people with disabilities to save money for today’s needs or invest for tomorrow in a simple, affordable and tax-advantaged account that won’t impact certain disability benefits.

Joey Roney arrived back to Virginia wearing a silver medal proudly from his performance in the 100m freestyle. In his first ever World Games, Joey had a great time learning about people from different countries. Feeling grateful for his experience, Joey penned a letter to Special Olympics Virginia President Rick Jeffrey.

Congratulations to all seven athletes on earning a medal at the Special Olympics World Games, held March 14-25 in Abu Dhabi Seven local Special Olympics athletes have proudly returned home from Abu Dhabi with an impressive amount of hardware to show off and even more memories to share.

Special Olympics USA is proud to announce that it will send a 313-member delegation to represent the United States at the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, being held March 14-21, 2019, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.