Young Athletes

Special Olympics Hawai’i offers an inclusionary program for 2-7 year old special education and regular education children called Young Athletes. This program develops pre-sports skills through a variety of fun activities designed for the young athlete.

young athlete riding balance toy

Special Olympics Hawai’i also provides our Young Athletes curriculum to Special Education teachers. If you are interested in becoming a Young Athletes classroom and would like to utilize the Special Olympics Young Athletes curriculum, please contact Nip Ho at [email protected] Special Olympics Hawaii will provide the curriculum for free and may be able to help with equipment costs to begin a movement program in your classroom.

Young Athlete Story Time

To keep our young athletes engaged during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Special Olympics Hawaii implemented a weekly live story time on Saturday mornings, intermixed with various activities and songs. While no longer produced live, these recordings are still available for you to view here.

Department of Education 

Special Olympics Hawaii partners with the Hawaii Department of Education through the Adaptive PE Resource Teachers across Oahu. The Preschool Playdays are a result of this collaboration. Each region on Oahu (Windward, Leeward, Central, Honolulu) puts on an annual playday in March or April. Please contact your regions Adaptive PE Resource Teacher for more information.

young athletes playing

Future Stars 

Special Olympics athletes cannot participate on a team until age 8. However, 6 and 7 year old athletes can get ahead and start practicing with their future teams. These Future Stars compete in special Future Stars competitions at area and state games. Future Stars Competitions are offered in the following sports:

  • Basketball
  • Soccer
  • Track & Field

If you have any questions, please contact your Head of Delegation or Area Director. 

Young Athletes Eligibility

Special Olympics Young Athletes is an early childhood sports play program for children aged 2 to 7 years old that includes games, songs and other fun physical activities where children with and without disabilities play together. Any child between the ages of 2 and 7 is eligible attend the Young Athletes events.

2022 YAP Flyer and ScheduleDownload
Young Athletes Registration Form HawaiiDownload

Please submit the form above to Nip Ho at [email protected] or via fax at 808-943-8814.