Unified Sports Competition
- Coaches are not allowed to play as Unified partners.
- Delegations with more than one team in a sport must designate a different Head Coach for each team.
- All teams competing in the Unified Sports competition must be composed according to the requirements of the Unified Sports Competitive model. More information can be found in Article 1 of the Special Olympics Rules.
- In team sports, each team is required to play all eligible and able-bodied team members in every game unless a player is injured, as determined by Games medical and Delegation Medical team, or has been removed due to disciplinary reasons or sickness/illness. Coaches must notify the competition management prior to each game if players on the approved team roster will not be playing. Failure to play all eligible team members in each game will result in penalties, up to and including forfeiture and disqualification.
Similar Age Requirement
- Members of Team Sports MUST be within the following similar age ranges:
- If all the members of a team are 18 years old and older, the variance between the youngest and oldest member of the team should be no more than 20 years.
- If any member of a team is between the ages of 16 -17 (at the time of the Games) the variance between the youngest and oldest member of the team must be no more than 5 years.
- These parameters are required in Football.
Similar Ability Requirement
- Athletes and partners should be of similar ability as described in Article I – Sport Rules. Please note that the Unified Sports Competitive model is not exclusive to high ability Unified partners and athletes. While the Unified Sports Competitive model emphasizes the importance of having team members of similar ability it does not prescribe that they must be of high ability only. Teams can be composed of lower ability participants if the team members are of similar ability. Ability may be considered before gender when divisioning. If divisions cannot be comprised strictly by mixed gender teams, then teams will play in male divisions.
Roster Size
Please review sport specific roster size information carefully.
| Roster Size | Similar Age | Similar Ability | Field of Play Ration (A:)) |
10 (Roster Ration) | 11 (Roster Ration) | 12 (Roster Ration) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-12 | Required | Required | 4:3 | 5:5 | 6:5 | 7:5 | 6:6 |
Official partner
