Over 1,000 children and adults with mental retardation and closely related developmental disabilities participate in the Special Olympics Chester County program. Athletes range in age from 8 to over 60 and are of all ability levels. We provide local competitions year-round for all of the sports offered in the Special Olympics Chester County program. Athletes also can participate in regional competitions and in three State-wide competitions conducted by Special Olympics Pennsylvania.

An athlete must be at least 6 years old (8 years old to attend competitions) and identified by an agency or professional as having one of the following conditions: an intellectual disability, cognitive delays as measured by formal assessment, or significant learning or vocational problems due to cognitive delay.

Before an athlete can begin Special Olympics sports training, the athlete's parent/guardian and a medical professional must complete an application for participation. The medical portion of this form needs to be completed only once, unless the athlete has a current health situation or develops a health situation. In this case, the medical portion must be completed annually by a medical professional. If no health situation exists that requires an annual medical review, the basic informational portion of the form must be updated every three years.

Submit a completed athletes medical form to your local program coordinator at 458 E. King Rd. Malvern, PA 19355