The current Special Olympics Reach Report is designed to provide a summary of key programmatic results achieved globally in the framework of Special Olympics activities conducted in the course of the year 2010.
Athlete Participation
Growth
In 2010, Special Olympics served 3,746,469 athletes worldwide, an increase of more than 315,000 athletes from 2009.
In the past year, the global Movement achieved a 9.2 percent athlete growth rate - more than 1.2 percentage points higher than the growth rate reported in 2009.
All seven Regions reported positive athlete growth during 2010.
Age
Sixty-six percent of our athletes are of school age (8-21), while the adult athlete population (22+) constitutes 33 percent of all Special Olympics athletes.
In 2010, Special Olympics served 52,719 individuals ages 2-7, a 50 percent increase from 2009.
Sports
Similar to 2009, the Movement’s top sports include athletics, football, basketball, bowling, and aquatics.
Almost half a million athletes (192,740) and partners (302,954) are now engaged in Unified Sports opportunities, an increase of almost 35 percent from 2009.
26,685 athletes serve in leadership positions offered through Athlete Leadership Programs (ALPs).
Program Development Data
Coaches
More than 275,000 coaches supported Special Olympics athletes during 2010, representing a 12.7 percent annual growth rate.
Competitions
49,778 competitions were organized around the world in 2010; 136 competitions were hosted every day, an increase of 12.8 percent from 2009.
Revenue
Cash revenue generated by Special Olympics Programs increased by 7 percent from a year earlier and amounted to more than 185 million USD in 2010.
In-kind revenue increased by 15 percent from 2009 to reach 65.6 million USD.
Healthy Athletes
Special Olympics Programs hosted 783 Healthy Athletes events in 2010 and additional 146 events took place at major Games for a total of 929 Healthy Athletes events.
Operational Plans
During 2010, 90 Programs had single-year operational plans in place and 63 Programs had multi-year operational plans.
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