Don’t Miss Your Chance to Participate in our Busiest Season

The fall sports season continues to be one of Special Olympics Kentucky busiest times of year in terms of number of athletes competing and competition options. Now is the time to make sure your athlete, or maybe a potential new athlete you know, is signed up to compete this fall.

Our fall sports season includes bowling, which is our most popular individual sport and a sport in which many athletes first compete in Special Olympics, equestrian, flag football and artistic gymnastics. All four sports will begin practices as early as August in some areas.

Bowling

Bowling continues to be our most popular sports and a tremendous entry point to Special Olympics competition. Prior to it outgrowing every bowling facility in the state and moving to having athletes qualify via area bowling tournaments, the State Bowling Tournament was our largest single-sport event and rivaled the State Summer Games for total number of competitors. The bowling season consists of several weeks of local practice that lead up to Area Bowling Tournaments that are held throughout the state. All bowlers who record and report at least 10 practice game scores qualify to compete in their Area Bowling Tournament. For the fourth year, those area tournaments take on added emphasis as bowlers must win at least a silver medal in their area tournament division in order to qualify to compete in the State Tournament. Area Bowling registration deadlines will begin in September and vary by area.

2026 Bowling Schedule
Oct. 4 – Area 8 Bowling Tournament; Southland Lanes, Lexington
Oct. 11-12 – Area 4 Bowling Tournament; King Pin Lanes, Louisville
Oct. 18 – Area 6 Bowling Tournament; Galaxy Bowl, Richmond
Oct. 18 – Area 7 Bowling Tournament; Walt’s Center Lanes, Newport
Oct. 25-26 – Area 1 Bowling Tournament; Cardinal Lanes, Paducah
Oct. 25 – Area 5 Bowling Tournament; Southern Lanes, Bowling Green
Oct. 26 – Area 2 Bowling Tournament; Diamond Lanes South, Owensboro
TBA – Area 3&9 Bowling Tournament; Bowl Rite, Prestonsburg

Equestrian

The State Equestrian Competition found a new home in 2025 at to Frankfort’s Pura Vida Farm, Where it will return on Saturday, Sept. 26. It will once again be the first state-level event of the fall sports season. Athletes from riding programs across the state will gather to show off their abilities in categories including dressage, western equitation, English equitation, working trails and showmanship. Athletes access the State Equestrian Competition by training at a participating therapeutic riding program.

Flag Football

Flag Football continues to thrive as our fall team sport. The flag football season consists of two regional tournaments that lead up to the State Flag Football Tournament that will be held in November at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester.

2026 Flag Football Schedule
Oct. 4 – Region 3 Flag Football Tournament; St. Xavier High School, Louisville
Oct. 11 – Region 1 Flag Football Tournament; Kentucky Wesleyan University, Owensboro
Oct. 18 – Region 2 Flag Football Tournament; Thomas More University, Crestview Hills
Nov. 1 – State Flag Football Tournament; George Rogers Clark High School, Winchester

Artistic Gymnastics

Kentucky’s gymnastics program has a long proud history of producing World and USA Games champions. Dreams of being the next to claim World and USA gold begin at our annual State Artistic Gymnastics Competition. The event will tentatively be held  in November at Excel Gymnastics in Richmond. The event brings together between 30 and 35 gymnasts from several adaptive programs throughout the state.

For more information about bowling, please contact Kathy Marshall at kmarshall@soky.org. For equestrian or gymnastics information contact Camryn Schmidt at cschmidt@soky.org. For more information about flag football, contact Loran Trent at ltrent@soky.org. You can reach any of them at 502-695-8222.

For volunteer opportunities, contact Michaele Roy at mroysoky.org or 502-695-8222.