Interested in the activities in specials Olympics Northern California Championships 2009? Learn more about the Special Olympics championships in Northern California in the 2009…
The largest sporting event for Special Olympics organized in Northern California is known as the Summer Games. Year after year it has become exceptionally popular with a large number of athletes aiming to perform. It is supported by a huge group of volunteers that includes coaches, families and sports enthusiasts.
Sporting Calendar
The sporting competition is organized during the spring season running from March through May. There are more than 700 special athletes who compete in the Olympics every year. In 2009 there were more than 600 athletes in the Northern California’s Special Olympics championships. The championship level athletes perform in track and field, aquatics, tennis and bocce to get the medals.
Qualification Requirements
In order to qualify, the athletes have to train for six to eight weeks in a particular sport. They are then allowed to participate in the regional competitions organized throughout Northern California during April and May. Each area is given an allotment number for the Summer Games based on the total number of athletes in each division that are being trained in the area.
There is a lot of encouragement for the community members and different companies to participate in the Northern California’s Special Olympics championships every year. Different businesses, individuals, families and groups are allowed to participate and sponsor events. The massive opening ceremonies are conducted on the Friday night that is precedent to the competitions. These are organized over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
Event Category
The aquatics events are organized at the Schaal Aquatic Center. The events include assisted and unassisted swimming competitions, a floatation race, walk events, breaststroke, backstroke and serving in freestyle and butterflies. The athlete can perform relays and an Individual Medley if they are qualified. More than 200 participants perform in this category.
The Bocce is organized in the Martinez Waterfront Park. Generally the competitions include a four person team-based competition where you have more than 90 athletes involved in the event.
The tennis championship is conducted at the Marya Welch Tennis Center in UC Davis. The athletes compete in singles and double matches along with proving individual skills. There have been over 40 athletes competing in this category as late as 2009.
The Toomey Field at UC Davis plays host for the track and field events. The competitions include assisted and non assisted walking events, running events, wheel chair events, pentathlon and relays.
Apart from this you have athletes competing in field events. These are classified as running long jump, high jump and the standing long jump. Also included are the softball and turbo jav throw, shot-put and tennis ball throw. Around 400 athletes have competed in this category to date. Each of the categories is sponsored by leading American corporations.
