Minnesota
Special Olympics
BASKETBALL
Basketball is one of the top sports at Special Olympics. Players take it up at all ages and at all abilities, from players learning to handle the ball and keeping it under control while dribbling, to more experienced players who know the strategies to play challenging ball.
Our season starts in February or March and goes until June. We practice mainly on Saturday mornings. Local tournaments are in April and May.
The State tournament is in June. The uniforms consists of a basketball jersey, shorts, and tennis shoes. Wild West provides the jerseys which are returned at the end of the season. Please bring dry tennis shoes for practices and tournaments.
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Individual Skills
This is for athletes who are either new to the game or team and don't feel ready to play on a team. For individual skills athletes learn how to dribble, shoot, and pass in a non-team setting. We will sometimes practice with the half court team.
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Full Court (Traditional or Unified)
Full court is 5 versus 5. The team practices dribbling, shooting, passing and working as a team. The full court team can have Unified Partners as well and play as a unified full court team. There is a 2:3 ratio of Unified Partners to Special Olympic athletes on the court.
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Half Court
Half court is for players who might be new to the game and don't feel that they are up for full court (or would like a smaller team). Half court is 3 on 3. There are no unified players on the half court team.
Current Year
Past Years