Our History

Special Olympics New Brunswick began in 1979 with the help of John Bout, Lionel Belliveau, and Glen Agnew. When our Chapter first began, we had a total of four regions throughout the province. We had Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John, and Miramichi. These four areas in the province were then named Capital Region, Southeast Region, Fundy Region, and Miramichi Region. We now have a total of eight active regions throughout our province.

The first sports that were offered throughout these regions were floor hockey, track and field, swimming, and bowling. Today we offer eleven summer sports and eight winter sports.

The first national games team New Brunswick attended was the floor hockey tournament in 1983 hosted in Toronto. They then attended the same tournament in 1985 and 1987. Team New Brunswick was successful in the 1987 tournament as they won the A Division with an All-Star team. This team had 5 players each from Capital Region, Southeast Region, and Fundy Region. New Brunswick also had the honor of hosting their first Special Olympics Canada National Winter Games in Edmundston, NB in 1988.

Lake Tahoe in 1989, was the first World Games that New Brunswick had a coach and player attend.

Since 1979, our province and chapter have come a long way. Starting with only a handful of athletes, volunteers, and programs, we now have 780+ athletes, 250 volunteers, and 39 programs.