How can someone register to become an athlete?
To be eligible to participate in Special Olympics, you must be at least 8 years old (5 years of age for local games) and identified by an agency or professional as having one of the following conditions: intellectual disabilities, cognitive delays as measured by formal assessment, or significant learning or vocational problems due to cognitive delay that requires or has required specially designed instruction. It does not cost anything to participate.

Steps to Register an Athlete: 

1)      Complete the Athlete Participation Form (click here for copy),
be sure to include the following:

            Insurance Information

            Emergency Contact

            Signature for media release and participation

            Doctor’s Signature giving medical clearance

      2)      Complete the Local Athlete Registration Form (click here for copy): 

This form provides information for T-shirt sizes, food preferences at events, and communication strategies and other techniques for the buddy to utilize while assisting the athlete. 

3)     Turn in the Athlete Participation Form and the Local Athlete Registration Form to your child’s teacher (if the athlete is a Forsyth County Schools student) or mail the forms to:
Special Olympics Forsyth County, Attention - Susan Darlington
1120 Dahlonega Highway, Cumming, GA 30040
For more information, please contact Susan Darlington at 770-887-2461 ext. 202327.

Participation By Individuals With Down Syndrome Who Have Atlanto-Axial Instability

Medical research indicates that up to 15% of individuals with Down syndrome have a malalignment of the cervical vertebrae C-1 and C-2 in the neck.  This condition exposes individuals with Down Syndrome to the possibility of injury if they participate in activities that hyper-extend or radically flex the neck or the upper spine.


Special Olympics Inc. requires temporary restriction of individuals with Down Syndrome from participation in certain activities.

1.  Accredited programs may allow individuals with Down Syndrome to participate in most Special Olympics sports training and competition activities.  However, such individuals shall NOT be permitted to participate in sports training and competition activities, which, by their nature, result in hyperextension, radical flexion or direct pressure on the neck or upper spine, unless the requirements of (2) and (3) below are satisfied. 

Such activities include:

2. Restriction from participation in the above-listed activities shall continue until an individual with Down Syndrome has been examined (including x-ray views of full extension and flexion of neck) by a physician who has been briefed on the nature of the Atlanto-axial Instability condition, and the results of such an examination demonstrate that the individual does not have Atlanto-axial Instability condition; OR
 

3. For any individual diagnosed as having the Atlanto-axial Instability condition, the examining physician shall notify the athlete's parents or guardians of the nature and extent of the individual's condition, and such athlete shall be allowed to participate in the listed activities only if the athlete submits written certifications from two (2)  physicians, on SOI forms, combined with an acknowledgement of risks signed by the adult athlete or his/her parent or guardian if the athlete is a minor.