The defending Special Olympics Unified Sports® High School basketball state champions from Bend High School will be taking their talents to Orlando, Florida next month to compete at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games from June 5-12, 2022.
The team will be celebrated at an outdoor assembly during school day on the Bend HS campus on Thursday, May 19, 2022, from 10:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
The USA Games will feature delegations comprised of Special Olympics athletes, Unified partners, coaches, and staff from every state in the nation plus several countries from the Caribbean competing in 19 different sports. Many will be competing at the ESPN Wide World of Sports campus which is located on the Disney World Campus. More than 5,500 delegates will participate, supported by 20,000 volunteers and thousands more family members and supporters there to cheer and support – making this one of the largest
humanitarian sports events in the world this year.
Special Olympics Oregon will be sending a Team Oregon delegation of 40 people with athletes and Unified partners representing all corners of the state who will compete in athletics (track & field), bocce, bowling, swimming, and Unified Sports® basketball.
The Bend HS Unified Sports basketball team will compete as part of Team Oregon while at the USA Games – which means that they will receive brand new uniforms and shoes donated by Nike. Competition will be a big part of the experience, but there will also be plenty of time for other special events and experiences including marching in the parade of athletes during the Opening Ceremony at Exploria Stadium (which will be aired live on ABC on 6/5), a day trip to Disney World Magic Kingdom, and a Family and Friends Night at Animal Kingdom during their weeklong trip to Florida.
“I’m most excited for Disney World!” Said Nathan Criteser, an athlete on the team. The team has been training twice a week to prepare.
“It is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that these students will never forget,” explains Head Coach
and Bend HS teacher, Robert Tadjiki. “The Special Olympics Oath is, ‘Let me win — if I cannot win, let me be
brave in the attempt’…And so if we don’t win it, we’ll be brave in the attempt.”
The basketball team departs from Bend/Redmond Airport on an early morning flight on June 3 to start their
journey and will return home on Sunday evening, June 12.
