Montgomery County Team Concludes Participation in Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota

The 2026 Special Olympics USA Games wrapped up on June 26 in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Over the course of the week, athletes and coaches from every state competed across 16 sports at venues in Minneapolis and Blaine, capping a Games that began with the opening ceremony on June 20 and closed with the torch heading to Cleveland, Ohio, for 2030.

Montgomery County had a direct stake in that week. Montgomery Soccer Inc. (MSI) has spent decades building a soccer culture in the county that prioritizes access, development, and belonging for players at every level. That foundation showed up in Minnesota.

Representing Special Olympics Maryland on the soccer field were Head Coach Emily Golden and Assistant Coach Dan Hunsinger, both rooted in the Montgomery County soccer community. Over the course of the week, the team took to the field and competed alongside athletes from across the country. The work they put in long before arriving in Minnesota made the difference.

Competition was held at the National Sports Center in Blaine across four divisions:
Traditional 5v5
Unified 5v5
Traditional 7v7
Unified 7v7

The Unified divisions, pairing athletes with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team, drew some of the strongest energy of the week. Every player on a Unified roster contributes, and that equality of participation is what makes the format stand out.

What happened in Minnesota this week did not start in Minnesota. It started in practices, in community programs, in the kind of steady, unglamorous work that youth soccer organizations do year after year. For the players and coaches who made the trip, this was the payoff for that work.

MSI continues to serve over 15,000 players across Montgomery County and remains focused on building programs where every athlete has room to grow. The experience gained in Minnesota this week will carry forward as the community looks ahead to what comes next.

To learn more about MSI Soccer and community programs in Montgomery County, visit https://www.msisoccer.org

For more information on the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, visit 2026specialolympicsusagames.org.

7650 Standish Pl, Rockville, MD 20855
Phone: (301)762-4674

About Montgomery Soccer Inc.
Since 1971, MSI Soccer has been Montgomery County's premier non-profit for youth soccer. We provide Recreation, Classic, and Travel programs for 15,000+ players, with a focus on fun and skill development.

This release was published on openPR.