To be a Special Olympics coach, you don’t have to have prior experience – we provide the necessary training. What you do need is the enthusiasm and desire to make a positive impact on the lives of athletes.
NEW coaches to Special Olympics Montana (SOMT) or current coaches who wish to be certified in a new sport, must complete the following steps in order to achieve certification (click on the red letters to be taken to the link).
Started in July 2017, SOMT offers online re-certification courses for returning coaches. In order to qualify for online coach recertification, you must be a certified coach within the sport you want to be recertified in and your certification cannot have been expired for more than one year. Note that the following items must be completed every three years to remain an active, certified coach (click on the red letters to be taken to the link).
Rules and Resources
Special Olympics International official rule books
Special Olympics Montana basketball modification rules
Special Olympics Montana bowling modification rules
This is a training that will cover the basics of being a coach, as well as the rules of Athletics, B...
March 12 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm at Lewis and Clark Middle SchoolThis is a coach training for anyone wishing to be certified in Athletics, Bocce, and/or Swimming to ...
March 14 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pmThis is a coach training for anyone wishing to be certified in Cycling, Golf, and/or Soccer to coach...
March 19 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pmAthlete-Centered Coaching Guide: This guide is a general introduction to coaching adults and children with intellectual disabilities. This guide also includes a section focusing on some behaviors commonly associated with intellectual disabilities and effective strategies to improve athlete learning.
Sport Specific Coaching Guides: Internationally, Special Olympics offers 30-plus Olympic-style individual and team sports that provide meaningful training and competition opportunities for persons with intellectual disabilities. This page presents coaching guides, rules, quick-start guides and more. Utilize these guides – they are well researched, thorough, and often contain pre-made training plans.
Special Olympics Sport Sciences: Sport Psychology for Coaches : This guide dives into how athletes learn, what motivates them, how to develop communication skills, and the psychological considerations for training and competition.
*These courses are currently not required to become a certified coach*
Coaching Unified Sports Course: Unified Sports is an inclusive sports program that unites Special Olympics athletes (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and partners (individuals without intellectual disabilities) as teammates for training and competition. This course will help you understand and implement Special Olympics Unified Sports in your school. Cost: Free.
A Coach’s Playbook: An Introduction to Autism and Instructional Strategies for Coaching: Offered through Special Olympics Virginia, this course offers an introduction to autism and general strategies for coaching athletes with autism. As the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is becoming more prevalent, it is important that our coaches are trained to work with athletes who are on the autism spectrum. Cost: Free.
Coaching Special Olympics Athletes Course: Through this three-hour course, you will develop a better understanding of how people with intellectual disabilities learn and how they participate in sports. The course offers a solid overview of the coaching principles involved in working with Special Olympics athletes, as well as practical ideas that you can immediately use in your teaching and coaching. Cost is $16.95.
Principles of Coaching Course: Since the introduction of the Special Olympics training school for coaches in 1980, more than 265,000 volunteer coaches have been trained in seminars or courses conducted around the world. In reviewing the evaluations of these coaches’ training seminars, a comment appeared repeatedly of the wish that more time could have been spent in the seminar. West Virginia University Continuing & Professional Education, College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, and Special Olympics can now offer this online course as a result of those repeated requests.
Cost: $35. Average completion time for the course is 25-30 hours.