Soccer

Soccer features more school participants than any other team sport in Special Olympics D.C.  Offered during the spring season, Five-A-Side Team Competition, Unified Five-A-Side Soccer, and Individual Soccer Skills involve athletes with a variety of abilities and experience.  Players represent their schools or adult agencies as members of a Five-A-Side team and train weekly over the course of the season.  In Unified Five-A-Side Soccer, high school students with and without intellectual disabilities train and compete together and play in a league.  Individual Soccer Skills challenges beginner and lower ability athletes in three events which measure goal shooting, dribbling, and passing.

Sport Season

Spring

Training Site
Turkey Thicket Recreation Center, 1100 Michigan Ave., NE,  Washington, D.C.   20017

Practice Dates

To Be Determined.  Teams and Individual Skills players practice once a week from mid-March through late May.

Competition Events Offered

• Five-A-Side Team Soccer:  School teams practice weekly, focusing on skill development, game strategies, conditioning, and sportsmanship.  A small number of adult agencies also have teams who train and compete in an older age division.
• Unified Five-A-Side Soccer:  A proportionate number of high school Special Olympics athletes and students without intellectual disabilities from The Madeira School train and compete together on Unified Soccer teams each week.
• Individual Skills Competition:  Skills events in goal shooting, dribbling, and passing help beginner and lower-ability athletes familiarize themselves with the essentials of the sport.  Training is held each week.

Championship Competition

• Team Soccer, Unified Soccer and Individual Soccer Skills Championships
  Summer Games, May 22-24 at Catholic University, Washington, D.C. 

Resources

• Special Olympics Soccer Coaching Guide
• Special Olympics Soccer Official Rules

Contact

Anthony Sokenu, Associate Sports Director at asokenu@specialolympicsdc.org