Become an Official

Become an Official

We encourage everyone officiating Special Olympics competitions to become certified in their sport and provide an opportunity for anyone interested, including Special Olympics athletes, to become a certified Special Olympics sport-specific official.

The Special Olympics Officials Training and Certification process consists of three parts:

Officials with a National Governing Body (NGB) officials’ certification and/or an International Sport Federations (ISF) officials certification should participate in Part 1, which provides an introduction to Special Olympics, officiating Special Olympics events and any necessary rules and sport equipment modifications, and Part 3, which entails officiating 10 hours or five Special Olympics sport-specific competitions under the observance of an experienced Special Olympics official and/or competition staff member.

Those individuals with neither a NGB nor an ISF officials certification must also complete Part 2 of the process, which focuses on the competition venue, games management and the various officiating positions of the sport.

When participants in the training process have completed all the requirements, they must complete the Special Olympics Sports Training Certification form.

Time commitment: 2-4 hours per event plus two hours training.

All Officials must:

•  Be at least 16 years of age
• Complete Special Olympics “Class A” background check
•  Have knowledge and experience officiating the sport
• Complete SODC Officials Training

Sports Training Seasons are followed by championship competitions:

• Unified Bocce September-October (Tuesday Evenings 6:30pm to 9pm)
• Traditional Basketball September-November (Thursday Mornings 10am to 1pm)
• Unified Basketball January-March (Wednesday & Thursday Evenings)
• Unified Volleyball March-May (Wednesday Evenings 7pm to 9pm)
• Soccer March-May (Wednesday & Thursday Mornings 10am to 1pm)
• Unified Tennis June-August (Tuesday Evenings 6:30pm to 9pm)