Special Olympics North America to Host Regional Athlete Congress for the First Time

Special Olympics North America will certainly gather professional athletes from Canada, the Caribbean and the United States March 8– 13, 2026, at the Unique Olympics Michigan headquarters for the first-ever Unique Olympics The United States And Canada (SONA) Athlete Congress to discuss subjects currently affecting professional athletes throughout the local shows room. This event serves as a tipping rock to establish the program for the 2027 Global Athlete Congress, which will certainly be held in Chile.

The purpose of the SONA Professional Athlete Congress is to gather information on concerns that influence neighborhood programming, train individuals in personal and expert advancement abilities, in addition to the essential analytic abilities. Individuals will likewise pick the participants that will certainly stand for SONA at the 2027 Global Professional Athlete Congress.

“Unique Olympics Michigan is honored to hold the North America Athlete Congress at the Unified Sports and Incorporation Center,” Tim Hileman, Chief Executive Officer of Unique Olympics Michigan , stated. ” The weeklong occasion will beam a spotlight on the toughness, nerve, and vision of our professional athlete leaders. Unique Olympics Michigan is enjoyed assist their voices be enhanced and commemorated.”

The 27 athletes present will stand for two distinct groups of professional athlete leaders: the progressing delegates and the non-advancing delegates. Amongst the advancing group, 15 professional athlete leaders and their advisors will certainly be members of one of the three sub-regional Professional athlete Leadership Councils (U.S., Canada, or Caribbean). Throughout the SONA Congress, all guests will certainly aid pick 10 finalists to be considered by SONA team to represent the Region by attending the Global Athlete Congress in Chile 2027

Non-advancing delegates and their advisors were chosen with an application process complying with nomination by their Special Olympics Program.

Unique Olympics Kansas professional athlete Josh Alters represents the progressing professional athletes and stated, “It means to me I can share my viewpoints on topics with other Programs and athletes from other states and countries.”

“The type of impact is to make modifications in our communities or Programs and to make this world a better location,” he continued.

The listing of Special Olympics athletes going to the 2026 Unique Olympics The United States And Canada Professional athlete Congress is given listed below.