Special Olympics Ontario has announced that the 2023 Ontario School Championships will be held in Kingston from June 6 to 8.
The event will be hosted by Kingston police and will feature more than 1,100 student-athletes, coaches and their families for the late-spring weekend.
The games will feature five sports: basketball, bocce, floor hockey, track and field, and soccer. All five will offer two types of team divisions: a traditional division, where athletes on the team have an intellectual disability, and a unified division, where athletes with and without an intellectual disability will have the opportunity to compete on the same team.
“For over 30 years, law enforcement in Kingston and around the world, have been an active advocate, fundraiser, and supporter of Special Olympics. It is with the utmost pride that the Kingston Police Service will host these Games and we know the community will embrace the excitement and support in welcoming the athletes, coaches and their families,” Kingston police Chief Scott Fraser said.
Kingston was originally scheduled to host the championships in June 2020 but the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the first time the Special Olympics Ontario School Championships have been hosted in Kingston. The service hosted a “very successful” provincial spring games in 2012.