June 6-8 2025 saw the return of the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games at the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing, NJ. Thousands of Special Olympics New Jersey athletes, coaches, volunteers, and spectators attending the Opening Ceremony on Friday Night to kick off the games!
The highlight was an incredible parade of athletes while families, friends, law enforcement, and fellow teammates cheered on each county as they entered the stadium and took their spots on the field.
Throughout the 3-day event, athletes competed in seven different sports, including Athletics (Track & Field), Bocce, Gymnastics, Powerlifting, Softball, Swimming, and Tennis. Competition venues consisted of Armstrong Memorial Park, Schafer Sports Center, and various locations across TCNJ’s campus.
The months of training, hard work, and determination finally paid off for the athletes competing in this year’s Summer Games. Thousands of medals were given out and countless memories were made.
42nd Annual Law Enforcement Torch Run
Starting nice and early on Friday morning was the first of 26 different routes for the 42nd Annual Law Enforcement Torch Run. Every year, New Jersey law enforcement officers exchange their uniforms for running gear as they carry the “Flame of Hope” throughout the state into the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games Opening Ceremony. Over 3,000 officers participated from over 475 police departments covering over 750 miles across the Garden State!
The annual Torch Run looks to raise over $600,000 by the end of the year and not only provides funds but gives the law enforcement community a chance to get directly involved with the athletes in an amazing way to start the largest competition event of the season!
Olympic Village at Trenton Hall Lawn
Saturday and Sunday were jam-packed with competition events and activities for the whole family, not just the participating athletes. Spectators happily cruised around Olympic Village at Trenton Hall Lawn, where numerous Year-Round Partners offered games, giveaways, and chances to win awesome prizes.
ShopRite provided FREE lunches
ShopRite, a proud partner of Special Olympics New Jersey for the last 32 years, provided FREE lunches, treats and cold waters all weekend to everyone attending Summer Games. Over 17,500 lunches were distributed!
Young Athletes
At Summer Games, the smallest members of our community learned basics like balance, running, throwing, and kicking, in addition to running the 25-meter Future Stars Race; all while making new friends and having fun! Over the course of 2 days, SONJ had a total of 115 Young Athletes participate.
Healthy Athletes at the Brower Student Center
SONJ also offered FREE health exams and services to ALL athletes throughout the weekend as they cooled off in the Brower Student Center in the following 8 disciplines: Baseline Concussion Assessments, Fit Feet, FUNfitness, Health Promotion, Healthy Hearing, Opening Eyes, Special Smiles, and Strong Minds.
We are thrilled to report that over the weekend, we completed a total of 2,316 screenings, our highest yet!
The Brower Student Center was bustling with activity across eight different health disciplines all weekend long. Our goal was to encourage athletes to participate in as many Healthy Athletes disciplines as possible, and we achieved this with outstanding results:
- Baseline Concussion Assessment: 216 screenings
- Fit Feet: 498 screenings
- OOFOS – 414 pairs of shoes provided
- FUNfitness: 199 screenings
- Healthy Hearing: 243 screenings
- Health Promotion: 418 screenings
- Strong Minds: 164 screenings
- Special Smiles: 257 screenings
- Opening Eyes: 321 screenings
- Total pair of eyewear provided to athletes: 452
- In total, 728 athletes were screened at Summer Games.
Special thank to our AMAZING Volunteers
We were so lucky to have thousands of volunteers help with our 2025 Summer Games! Thank you to everyone who cam out to support this amazing event!
The 2025 Summer Games was an unforgettable weekend! Special Olympics New Jersey thanks everyone who competed, volunteered, sponsored, donated, and cheered on our athletes at this year’s event! We couldn’t have done it without YOU!
This was my first time being in the special Olympics,. I was in Bocce Somerset County. I hoping to return to Summer games next year in Trenton.