The Special Olympics of North Dakota held their State Summer Games which included various amounts of Athletic events from Bocce Ball to Track and Field. Kaia Watkins, Games Director for the event, says she was happy to see such a great turnout for volunteers and athletes. Kaia says Special Olympics offers a lot to those who participate.
“We serve people with intellectual disabilities, and we focus on sport. However, there is a lot of other services that Special Olympics can provide athletes. A lot around health and wellness; leadership is something that we focus a lot on, but of course it is all driven by sport, and with sport that’s where they build their confidence where they build their social networks; they get friends, they gain a lot of abilities to help them in the workforce and a lot of other opportunities outside of sport.”
This year’s event had over 100 coaches, and 570 athletes participate from 13 communities across the state.