Nearly 400 Special Olympics Kentucky athletes on 33 teams will take to the hardwood at Sports of All Sorts in Florence on Saturday, February 17, for the 2024 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 9-10. Of the 33 teams competing in nine divisions at the Region 2 Tournament, 10 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 2 p.m.. The Tournament’s final game of the day will start at 4:30 p.m. There will be 14 Northern Kentucky teams competing in the tournament. They will be joined by teams from Frankfort, Georgetown, Lexington, Richmond and Winchester.
This marks the 40th year for the Region 2 Basketball Tournament and the 10th that the event has been held at Sports of All Sorts. This is also the 40th year that high school referees from the Ninth Region Basketball Officials Association have volunteered to officiate the Tournament. Several officials working this year’s Tournament have been on hand all 40 years.
The Region 2 Tournament is one of three Regional Basketball Tournaments Special Olympics Kentucky holds in advance of the State Basketball Tournament. The others were held Feb. 2-4 in Bowling Green and Elizabethtown.
Basketball is one of the most popular Special Olympics Kentucky sports offerings in the state. This year, more than 1,100 athletes will be competing on 111 teams statewide. 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.
The Region 2 Basketball Tournament is made possible by the support of Special Olympics Kentucky Year-Round Partners Jersey Mike’s Subs, Texas Roadhouse and Toyota Motor Corporation.
Basketball tournament (file photo)
For more information about the Special Olympics Kentucky Regional Basketball Tournament, contact Holly Vincent, Director of Sports and Competition, at 502-695-8222 or hvincent@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 11,000 athletes statewide annually.
