Athletes Preparing for Three Championship Events

It doesn’t take long after the State Softball Tournament ends for our Fall Sports Season to take over the year. In fact, one of four fall championships has already been held and athletes are rapidly preparing for three others. Area and Regional Tournament get underway in the first weekend of October.

The Fall Sports Season includes our largest sport – bowling – and two of our smallest – equestrian and artistic gymnastics.

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. 3 – Area 5 Bowling Tournament; Diamond Lanes South, Bowling Green
Oct. 3 – Area 8 Bowling Tournament; Southland Lanes, Lexington
Oct. 10-11 – Area 4 Bowling Tournament; King Pin Lanes, Louisville
Oct. 17 – Area 3&9 Bowling Tournament; Bowl Rite, Prestonsburg
Oct. 17 – Area 6 Bowling Tournament; Galaxy Bowl, Richmond
Oct. 24 – Area 7 Bowling Tournament; Walt’s Center Lanes, Newport
Oct. 24-25 – Area 1 Bowling Tournament; Cardinal Lanes, Paducah
Oct. 25 – Area 2 Bowling Tournament; Diamond Lanes South, Owensboro
Dec. 5-6 – State Bowling Tournament; Ten Pin Lanes and Kingpin Lanes; Louisville

Equestrian

On Saturday, Sept. 26, the State Equestrian Competition returned to Frankfort’s Pura Vida Farm for the second consecutive year. It was once again the first state-level event of the fall sports season. Athletes from two riding programs gathered 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. 8 – 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. This year’s event will return to Excel Gymnastics in Richmond for the second consecutive year on Nov. 15. Excel once held the artistic gymnastics competition annually when it was part of the State Summer Games before swapping places in the calendar with rhythmic gymnastics. 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 Holly Vincent at hvincent@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.