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(Photo Credit: Special Olympics Alberta Grande Prairie)
By Nathaniel Leigh
Special Olympics Alberta Summer Games

Grande Prairie hosting 2025 Special Olympics Alberta Provincial Summer Games

Jul 11, 2025 | 7:00 AM

The Special Olympics Alberta Summer Games kick off in Grande Prairie Friday, July 11.

The games will see athletes with learning disabilities compete in ten different sporting events.

Games Manager Lisa Kerkhof says over a thousand athletes from Grande Prairie will be competing, along with some from the Northwest Territories as well.

“Saturday morning, they’re going to do competition all day, and then they have dinner and a banquet Saturday night,” Kerkhof says. “And then Sunday they compete as well before hitting the road and heading home. So, it’s a jampacked schedule and just over two full days to host all these athletes for the competitions.”

Kerkhof says several local athletes from Grande Prairie will be competing as well.

“It’s a four-year calendar schedule,” she says. “In year one they qualify for the Provincial Games, so that was last year. This year is our Provincial Event. From here we are looking to qualify athletes for the National Games which are being held in 2026 in Medicine Hat. From the Nationals Games they’ll look to qualify for the World Games, which for this cycle is in Chili in 2027.”

The festivities begin tonight with opening ceremonies at Bonnetts Energy Centre at 7:00 p.m., followed by a full day of competition Saturday, before the games wind down Sunday.

Kerkhof says Grande Prairie has proved to be a popular destination for major sporting events thanks in part to its dedicated volunteer community and among other factors.

“We have a lot of hotels, and we’re very close together with everything in the city,” she says. “Our athletes don’t have to sit on buses for a long time to get from hotel or accommodation to sport venues. Everything is close together, which makes things nice and tight and allows us to focus on the Sport competitions themselves.”

The opening ceremony and games are free for the public to attend.

by Nathaniel Leigh