How to Learn Special Olympics Sports Rules

The Special Olympics is designed to help people with intellectual disabilities participate in sports competition and sports training. Offering 30 different sports in both the winter and the summer, the Special Olympics is a global organization. If you are a coach for the Special Olympics or a participating athlete, learning the sports rules is crucial.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Locate the Special Olympics Sports Rules online on the official Special Olympics website and click on either winter or summer sports rules. Then, you can choose the sport of interest to you and open up the PDF file of the rules for that sport. You can even print a copy of the sports rules.
2. Check out the Coaching Guides online on the Special Olympics website. You can find sports rules for all of the Special Olympics sports in either a Microsoft word document or a PDF file. These files are downloadable and printable as well.
3. Attend training if you are a Special Olympics coach. In this extensive training required for all coaches, you'll spend considerable time covering sport rules, protocol and etiquette. Find information on training and the courses offered on the Special Olympics website.
4. Talk to your own coach if you are an athlete. Coaches will help all participating athletes learn the rules of the sport they are participating in. Your coach can also answer any questions you may have about the rules in general or about a specific rule.
5. Contact the Vice President for Sports and Competition at 202-628-3630 if you have any unanswered questions about the rules.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to suggest a change to an existing Special Olympics Sport Rule, you can do so. Fill out the Rule Change Recommendation Form that can be downloaded from the Special Olympics website. The form has instructions on how to submit the Recommendation form.