About Us

Our Mission
The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round training and athletic competition in a variety of well-coached, Olympic-type sports for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Special Olympians are given continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, express courage, experience joy, and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship with other Special Olympic athletes and with the community.

 

Our History
Special Olympics was founded in 1968 by Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, out of her passionate conviction that people with developmental disabilities could take part in and benefit from competitive sports. One thousand athletes from the U.S., Canada, and France competed in the first international Special Olympic Games. Today more than one million athletes and hundreds of thousands of volunteers and coaches participate in special Olympic programs, which are held in every state and more than one hundred countries.

Special Olympics competitions, are patterned after the World Olympics, with all the pageantry and excitement of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the lighting of the Special Olympic flame, and the presenting of awards to athletes. Special Olympic activities take place in public, with full coverage by the media, so that Special Olympians may reveal to the world those special qualities of the human spirit in which they excel-skill, courage, sharing, and joy.

Southern California Special Olympics
Southern California Special Olympics was organized in 1969 by Olympic gold medallist Rafer Johnson. The first competition attracted nine hundred athletes to the LA Memorial Coliseum. Today, ten of thousands of Special Olympians and more than 25,000 volunteer throughout California. The state has been divided into Northern and Southern California Chapter, and more than sixty geographical Area Programs.

Santa Barbara Special Olympics
The local Area Program was established in 1969 and is open to all individuals six and above with an intellectual or developmental disability who live in southern Santa Barbara County.
Today Santa Barbara Special Olympics is an ambitious program with more than five hundred athletes and six hundred volunteers. Competition at all levels of athletic ability is offered, with training provided by certified volunteer coaches.

Events and activities take place monthly and include training schools, sports camps, conferences, workshops, and competitions held throughout Southern California. Training is offered in a wide variety of individual and team sports.

The benefits of Special Olympics to the athletes and those who support them are many. Through sports training and competition, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities grow physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Families are brought together and strengthened, and the community as a whole gains in understanding through the shared commitment to these individuals.