Special Olympics North America collects athletes from Canada, the Caribbean and the United States from 8-13 March 2026, at the Special Olympics Michigan headquarters for the very first Special Olympics Noord -Amerika (Sona) Athlete Congress to discuss topics that currently influence athletes in the local programming space. This event serves as a stepping stone to set the agenda for the Global Athlete Congress 2027, which will be held in Chile.
The aim of the Sona Athlete Congress is to collect information about issues that influence local programming, participants in training in personal and professional development skills, as well as the necessary problem -solving skills. Participants will also select those present who will represent Sona at the Global Athlete Congress 2027.
“Special Olympics Michigan is honored to organize the Noord -America Athlete Congress in the Unified Sports and Inclusion Center,” Tim Hileman, CEO of Special Olympics Michigansaid. “The one -week event will shine a spotlight on the power, courage and vision of our athlete leaders. Special Olympic Games Michigan is pleased to help their voice be strengthened and celebrated.”
The 27 athletes present will represent two different groups of athlete leaders: the advancing delegates and the non-advancing delegates. Among the progressive group, 15 athlete leaders and their mentors will be members of one of the three subregional leadership councils of athlete (US, Canada or Caribbean). During the Sona Congress, all those present will help select 10 finalists to be eligible by SONA employees to represent the region by attending the Global Athlete Congress in Chile 2027.
Non-advancing representatives and their mentors were selected through an application process after the nomination by their Special Olympics program.
Special Olympics Kansas Athlete Josh Alters represents the advancing athletes and said: “It means for me that I can share my opinion on topics with other programs and athletes from other states and countries.”
“The kind of impact is to make changes to our communities or programs and to make this world a better place,” he continued.
The list of Special Olympics -athletes that attend the Special Olympics North -America Athlete Congress in 2026 is provided below.
| Athlete name | Special Olympics Program/Chapter |
| Jamey Mills | St. Kitts & Nevis |
| Solay Thomas | Bermuda |
| Jean Paul Isidore | St. Lucia |
| Adrian Cummings | St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Jordan McLean | Cayman Islands |
| Amanda Harrinauth | North California |
| Travis Stucco | Wisconsin |
| Stacey Johnston-Gleason | Montana |
| Robert Reidl | Ohio |
| William (Billy) Silk | New York |
| Ben Fields | Oregon |
| Josh changes | Kansas |
| Brett Griffiths | Canada – Manitoba |
| There Magee | Canada – Nova Scotia |
| Declan Fawcett | Canada – Alberta |
| Gene Giuliani | Delaware |
| Jordan Schubert | Pennsylvania |
| Anita Griffin | Massachusetts |
| Karen Kerr | Indiana |
| Agustin Lara | Colorado |
| Nicholas Cella | Connecticut |
| Austin Stine | Kentucky |
| Taylor Stevenson | Michigan |
| Landon Slazar | Michigan |
| Drexel Joseph | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Kelvin Layne | Barbados |
| Sam Windross | Canada – Ontario |
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