TO: The Honorable Board of County Commissioners
THROUGH: John A. Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator
THROUGH: Michael C. Zito, Deputy County Administrator
Beth Powell, Parks, Recreation, & Conservation Director
FROM: Gustavo Vergara, Parks, Recreation and Conservation
Assistant Director Operations and Programs
DATE: November 14, 2025
SUBJECT: 2026 Special Olympics Fall Classic License Agreement - November 7, 2026
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BACKGROUND
Special Olympics is a global organization and is the largest sport organization that serves athletes with intellectual disabilities with more than 4.9 million athletes in 172 countries and over one million volunteers. The Mission of the Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in variety of Olympic type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The Special Olympics mission remains as vital today as it did when the movement was founded in 1968. Special Olympics offers 27 sports in Florida starting at the age of 2 years old, with close to 75,000 athletes and 45,000 volunteers participating yearly. Indian River County has a long history of hosting the State Swimming Championships at the North County Aquatic Center and Golf Championships at Sandridge Golf Club. These events not only support athletes and their families in providing amazing facilities for their competitions but provide important economic impact to the area.
ANALYSIS
For the third year, Special Olympics would like to expand their reach to local athletes by hosting the 2026 Fall Classic in Indian River County on Saturday, November 7, 2026. This event will include flag football, pickleball, softball (outdoor sports) and power lifting in one high energy day. The outdoor sports would be held at Richard “Dick” Bird Park and power lifting would be held inside the iG gym with a luncheon provided in rooms 131A, 131B and 131C. Rooms 112A...
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