Special Olympics Virginia held its Basketball Championships at Colonial Forge High School in Stafford County on Saturday, March 5.
It’s one of Special Olympics Virginia‘s annual statewide competitions. The event, regularly held at Colonial Forge High School, was the first there since 2020.
A total of 300 athletes from across Virginia participated in the games in Stafford County. More games are were played on Sunday. March 6, too.
Special Olympics Virginia began holding in-person events last fall, with its state Fall Championships on November 6 and 7, 2021, which attracted 500 fans and volunteers.
“We have been moving back to in-person activities at varying degrees since last summer,” said Special Olympics Virginia spokeswoman Holly Claytor.
This past weekend’s event in Stafford County was a lead-up to the Special Olympics Virginia’s largest event, the Summer Games, on June 10 and 11 in Richmond.
An annual Torch Run will take place the week leading up, with officers running the Final Leg into Summer Games Friday evening. Each year, police in Prince William and Stafford counties escort torch runners as they carry the flame on Route 1 south to the games.
When in Richmond at the start of the summer games, several members of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office line the way for the lighting of the cauldron, said Capt. Michelle Gibbons, of the Stafford sheriff’s office.
Additionally, in June, the Special Olympics Virginia will send 51 athletes to the USA Games in Orlando. “In between, we will start training locally in our spring sports, and our school programs will be hosting Little Feet Meets and other unified-style training and competitions,” adds Claytor.
