Special Olympics Wisconsin’s State Indoor Sports Tournament will return to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s Kolf Sports Center on April 6 and 7 for a weekend of basketball action.
Special Olympics Wisconsin’s annual state basketball tournament will include 56 traditional teams playing in a round-robin format throughout the weekend, as well as the second year of a 3 vs. 3 Unified basketball tournament. The Unified tournament will be composed of teams that include Special Olympics athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID) and Unified partners without ID.
“We are excited to be at UW Oshkosh again working with their great staff. We hope to expand on the number of teams competing in the Unified 3v3 Tournament and are excited to have a Unified Champion School division. With the help of all of the volunteers from UW Oshkosh, US Bank and the Neenah Lacrosse team, and the wonderful basketball officials, we anticipate the tournament to be our best one yet,” said Mark Wolfgram, tournament director and Senior Director of Field Services for Special Olympics Wisconsin. “We encourage everyone to come out and see fantastic basketball with team representation from all corners of Wisconsin.”
Special Olympics Wisconsin’s Healthy Athletes program, which gives the athletes access to free eye exams, dental screenings and hearing exams, will be returning as a core feature of the Indoor Sports Tournament. Special Olympics athletes in attendance – even those not competing – will be able to get screened through Healthy Athletes at the Gruenhagen Conference Center. The Indoor Sports Tournament helps more athletes get these critical screenings than any Special Olympics Wisconsin event outside of the annual Summer Games at UW-Stevens Point.
Special Olympics Wisconsin is proud to once again partner with UW Oshkosh for this event, one of the organization’s largest and most popular tournaments. UW Oshkosh has served as the host of the event since 1976.
“Our University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus and the Department of Residence Life conference services team have been hosting the Special Olympics Wisconsin Indoor Sports Tournament for over 35 consecutive years. It is difficult to put into words the privilege and honor it has been for us to host this tournament over that period of time. Special Olympics Wisconsin is an organization that all UW Oshkosh students, staff, faculty and alumni know and love,” said Marc Nylen, director of UW Oshkosh’s Gruenhagen Conference Center. “We will have more than 100 of our current students as well as Oshkosh community members volunteering their time to serve the needs of the athletes, coaches and Special Olympics staff. The spirit of sportsmanship is on full display throughout the weekend, and this is something that we value, appreciate and hold in high regard. UW Oshkosh is the perfect venue and Wisconsin’s Event City: Oshkosh are the ideal hosts for this incredible tournament.”
In addition to hosting the Indoor Sports Tournament, UW Oshkosh helps facilitate and organize many of the volunteers needed to run this tournament. This year Special Olympics Wisconsin expects over 500 volunteers to participate over the two day tournament. Volunteers from UW Oshkosh range from students to faculty members, all with one goal in mind–giving back.
Volunteers from across the region also help make this tournament happen every year. Every year, the boys’ lacrosse team of Neenah High School does a fantastic job on Sunday helping in a multitude of ways.
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