More than 250 Special Olympics Kentucky athletes on 21 teams will take to the hardwood at Sports of All Sorts in Florence on Saturday, February 19, for the 2022 Special Olympics Kentucky Region 2 Basketball Tournament.
Each of the teams will be looking to punch their tickets to the organization’s State Basketball Tournament, which will be held in Louisville March 11-13. Of the 21 teams competing in six divisions at the Region 2 Tournament, nine will earn automatic berths in the State Tournament.
Games will get underway at 9 a.m., with championship games beginning in some divisions as early as 11 a.m.
The Tournament’s final game of the day will start at 1 p.m. There will be 14 Northern Kentucky teams competing in the tournament. They will be joined by teams from Frankfort, Lexington and Richmond.
This season marks the first return to Regional tournaments for Special Olympics Kentucky since 2020. Last year’s basketball season was limited to skills events to allow athletes to practice while helping to limit COVID exposure.
The Region 2 Tournament is one of three Regional Basketball Tournaments Special Olympics Kentucky holds in advance of the State Basketball Tournament. The others are in Benton and Elizabethtown.
Basketball is one of the most popular Special Olympics Kentucky sports offerings in the state.
This year, more than 875 athletes will be competing on 78 teams statewide this year. Teams compete throughout the state in leagues and invitational and regional tournaments, all leading up to the State Basketball Tournament in March. Regional Tournaments determine which 35 teams advance to the State Tournament. Teams that do not qualify for the State Tournament have the option of participating in the Team Skills Competition, which is also held in Louisville in conjunction with the State Tournament.
For more information about the Special Olympics Kentucky Regional Basketball Tournament, contact Mark Staggs, tournament director, at 859-831-7575 or Hunter Brislin, Special Olympics Kentucky Director of Team Sports at 502-695-8222 or hbrislin@soky.org.
Special Olympics is the world’s largest program of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Participation in competitive events is open to all individuals eight years of age or older.
Training and competition in local, area, state, and national programs is offered year-round in Kentucky in 15 sports.
In addition to its traditional sports competitions, Special Olympics also offers early childhood programming through the Young Athletes Program and medical screenings though the Healthy Athletes Initiative. Special Olympics Kentucky began as a one-day event in Louisville in 1970 and has expanded to serve more than 10,200 athletes statewide annually.