Volunteers
Inclusion Starts With Action
Find your role and get started.
What Role is Right For Me?
Not sure where to start? Discover the different volunteer roles that fit your schedule and interests and start making an impact today.
Assistant Coach & Team Volunteer
- Assistant coaches help to organize practice and assist athletes in acquiring sports skills, under the leadership of a head coach.
- Perfect for: Volunteers who enjoy sports and want to motivate athletes to achieve their best.
- Time: Regular Schedule: 1-3 hours per week during the sports season
- Requirements: Volunteer registration, Background clearance (18+), Protective Behaviors Training (16+), General Orientation Training (16+), Concussion Training (16+)
Head Coach
- Head coaches lead and organize their team of athletes and volunteers to create a comprehensive sport training program. They make sure the paperwork for their training site is completed, and that they have enough volunteers to run their sport. They manage the rosters of both athletes and volunteers, and communicate important info such as practice dates, schedule changes and what to expect during the season.
- Perfect For: Volunteers who love sports and have the time and passion to lead a team.
- Time: Regular Schedule: 3-6 hours per week during the sports season
- Requirements: Volunteer registration, Background clearance (18+), Protective Behaviors Training (16+), General Orientation Training (16+), Concussion Training (16+), Sports Certification (provided by SOPA)
Event Volunteering
- Event volunteers are one- or multi-day volunteers who make our competition and fundraising events happen. Event volunteers help with a variety of roles, including scorekeeping, handing out awards, event setup and cleanup.
- Perfect For: Families, corporate groups and those in need of service hours
- Time: Event Day Only (2-8 hours)
- Requirements: Volunteer Registration
Unified Partner
- Become a teammate. Train and compete with Special Olympics athletes. Special Olympics Unified Sports® creates an opportunity for people without intellectual disabilities to join in the sports experience by playing on a team with athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Perfect for: Volunteers who want to play sports, make new friends and stay active
- Time: Regular Schedule: 1-3 hours per week during the sports season
- Requirements: Volunteer registration, Background clearance (for Partners 18+), Protective Behaviors Training (for Partners 16+), General Orientation Training (for Partners 16+)
Local Program Volunteer
- Volunteer for Special Olympics outside of the sports environment. Working alongside staff and volunteers, help us plan fundraising events, provide administrative support, serve on a local leadership team, mentor an Athlete Leader, and move our mission forward in many other ways.
- Perfect For: Families, corporate groups and those in need of service hours
- Time: Flexible Schedule: 3-5 hours per week
- Requirements: Volunteer registration, Background clearance, Protective Behaviors Training, General Orientation Training
Specialized Volunteer Roles
We’re always looking for licensed and credentialed volunteers to support athletes across all seasons and at State Games!
First Aid / Medical Volunteers
Provide sideline first aid at regional and state competitions.
- Must be 18+
- Current healthcare provider or certified in First Aid / CPR / AED
- Scheduled through our partners at Emergency Management Group of Washington
Healthy Athletes Volunteers
Help provide free health screenings and education at State Games
We’re constantly looking for both healthcare professionals and general volunteers to support:
- Opening Eyes
- Special Smiles
- FUNfitness (physical therapy)
How To Get Started
Event Volunteers
To volunteer at an event, head to our online portal, log in, and find events to attend near you. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t yet have one.
- Head to the Special Olympics Portal: https://portals.specialolympics.org
(If you’ve volunteered in the past ~18 months, you can just log in.)- Tip: Your activation email may come from “Microsoft on behalf of Special Olympics B2C Production,” so check your spam folder just in case.
If you don’t see it after a few minutes, feel free to reach out—we’re happy to help.
- Tip: Your activation email may come from “Microsoft on behalf of Special Olympics B2C Production,” so check your spam folder just in case.
- Click “Sign up for an Event”
- Search or browse for your event
- Choose your role and shift
- Follow the prompts to complete registration
If anything feels confusing or you get stuck, just email volunteer@sowa.org and we’ll walk you through it (or take care of it with you).
- Ages 14+: You can create your own account and register yourself.
- Start by creating one account, then email us—we’ll handle the group registration to make it easier for everyone.
- If you’re reaching out for a group, include:
- Your name
- Names (and emails, if possible) of your group members
- Ages of anyone 11–17 (birthdates preferred)
- City of residence
- Preferred event, date, and shift
Volunteer Grants
Do you work for a company that would like to learn about group volunteer opportunities? Does your school, sports team, community organization or faith community? Want to be added to the weekly volunteer mailing list? Please contact the Volunteer Team at volunteer@sowa.org.
Volunteer Requirements
Certain volunteer roles require a Class A Certification, especially those that involve one-on-one, unsupervised interaction with athletes. This includes coaches, chaperones, and some fundraising roles.
Volunteers must be at least 14 years old and complete a background check along with additional training.
To get started, renew, or check your certification, visit the online portal below. If it’s your first time, you’ll need to create an account.
FAQ's And Resources
The Volunteer Registration Portal is a website where you can sign up to participate in Special Olympics
Washington programming, such as sports and events. What to become more involved? You’ll be able
to do that as well!
There are several reasons why we request that you register to volunteer, preferably before the event.
- Select roles, such as Merchandise Lead, requires an adult volunteer to complete a background
check, which may take time to process. - We like to have a general idea if we have enough volunteers for the event or if we need to adjust
our coverage. - Contact information – we need to know who to contact in case of emergency. And we’d like to
contact you about future volunteer opportunities in your general area of the state. - Release forms – even as a general Event Volunteer, you will be required to sign a release form, we
want to give you time to read it. - Grants – while applying for grant funding, several require information that we can only provide if we
know who our volunteers are. - Confirmation of hours – whether for school, a work/volunteer grant, or for your military service
record, we cannot verify hours if we don’t know that you volunteered.
Yes, but pre-registered volunteers have priority. You will be asked to be a Fan in the Stands until preregistered volunteers have the opportunity to check in and we can assess where you’re needed most.
We take data security very seriously. Your data is encrypted and stored securely. For more details, please refer to our Privacy Policy https://www.specialolympics.org/privacy-and-data-security-policy
Yes, you will be able to use your cell phone, laptop, iPad or computer to create your account and sign in.
Your email address is needed for account verification, password resets, and to communicate important
information regarding your registration process.
No, each email address can only be associated with one account to ensure each user has a unique identity. If you already created an account with an email, you might just need to sign in instead of creating a new one.
We appreciate your efforts to register to volunteer using our new registration portal and apologize for any difficulties you may be experiencing. Thank you for your patience as we learn all of the nuances and become experts ourselves. If after reading the various User Guides and still need assistance, please review the following options:
- A more detailed User Guide (includes screen shots) is available by clicking here.
- Attend one of the “open houses” hosted by a member of the Special Olympics Washington volunteer team. Drop in to ask a question about the registration portal or upcoming volunteer opportunities.
- Sessions are offered on Mondays at both 12:00pm NOON and 6:00pm.
- Look for the Teams meeting link in our weekly email or on the volunteer webpages.
- Email your question to volunteer@sowa.org. If you prefer us to call you and walk you through the registration process, please include your preferred phone number and the best day/time to call. We will do our best to return your email/phone call in a timely manner.
Please have a parent or guardian apply for the Event Volunteer Group Lead role prior to registering for a shift. Please refer to Register a Group for step-by-step instructions.
Let us know about your interests, skills, and talents under My Checklist > Add Your Skills so program staff can help match you
- Email us at volunteer@sowa.org or submit a request: bit.ly/SOWA-PortalSupport.
Questions About Volunteering
Have a special skill to share or curious about how to get involved? We’d love to connect. Whether you’re exploring opportunities, looking to use your talents, or just have questions, our team is here to help you find the right fit.