Summer Games

SOND’s Summer Games include Aquatics, Bocce, Gymnastics, Powerlifting, Track & Field, and Unified Volleyball.


Summer Games Schedule

Bocce, volleyball, swimming, powerlifting, and track run from approximately the end of March to Early June each year (very weather dependent in North Dakota)

Practices: Check back for 2022

  • Swimming: Mandan Braves Center Pool, 901 Division St. NW.  (Tuesdays, TBA)
  • Bocce: Cottonwood Complex (Tuesdays 6:30-8:00 pm)
  • Volleyball: Horizon Middle School (Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 pm)
  • Track and Field: Simle Middle School Track (Thursdays 6:30-8:00 pm)
  • Powerlifting: All Seasons Arena, upper level, Mandan (Tuesdays 7:00-9:00 pm)
  • District Tournament, Mandan (Volleyball, Aquatics, and powerlifting): Check back for 2022
    • Swimming Mandan Braves Center Pool, 901 Division St. Use the Main door
    • Volleyball at Ft. Lincoln Elementary School, 2007 8th Ave SE.  Use West door
    • Powerlifting at All Seasons Arena, upper level, Mandan, 905 8th Ave NW
  • District Tournament, Dickinson (Track and Field): Check back for 2022
    • Biesoit Activity Center
  • No district tournament for bocce
  • State Tournament: Check back for 2022, Fargo

Aquatics:

Swimming (aquatics) is one of the most popular sports in world. Unlike other sports, swimming is a life skill that is taught, first, to ensure safety and, secondly, for sports and competition purposes. Aquatics covers a great variety of swimming skills, from short sprints to longer events and relays. And the Aquatics coaching guide (below) gives coaches advice and approaches to successfully coach swimmers of all abilities, from strong, fast competitors to swimmers who find it hard to swim at all.

Bocce:

Bocce is an Italian game. The basic principle of the sport is to roll a bocce ball closest to the target ball, which is called a palina. Bocce as a Special Olympics sport provides people with special needs the opportunity to have social contact, develop physically and to gain self-confidence. Next to soccer and golf, bocce is the third most participated sport in the world.

Powerlifting:

Every athlete aims in lifting more weights than the opponent using specific moves. In Special Olympics Powerlifting is much more than deadlift, squat or bench press. It is effort, persistence and loyalty. Training, determination and attitude, are the key facts that define the balance between a successful or a failed attempt. The barbell, despite testing the physical strength, is also highlighting the athlete’s inner wish to improve, “not to make compromises.”

Track & Field:

The sport of track-and-field encourages athletes of all abilities and ages to compete at their optimum level. Through the track-and-field-based athletics training program, participants can develop total fitness to compete in any sport. As with all Special Olympics sports, athletics offers athletes the opportunity to learn through skill development and competitive settings and to be involved in large social settings.

Volleyball:

The game of volleyball is attractive to all types of players, from competitive to recreational, young and old. To play volleyball players need to acquire a few basic skills, learn a few rules, require very little equipment, and can play the game almost anywhere – from the beach to the gym. The aim of the sport is to score more points by hitting the ball with the hands and sending it over the net to the opponent’s court.