About
We are the Farmington Tigers Special Olympics of Minnesota (SOMN) team. We have a number of athletes, coaches, and unified athletes from the surrounding communities as well. You do not need to live in Farmington to participate or volunteer with our team.
Currently our team offers:
Track and Field (unified relays possible), Gymnastics (individual and unified), Swimming, Unified Basketball, Unified Flag Football, Bocce Ball (individual and unified), Bowling (individual and unified), and Poly Hockey.
What are unified sports?
Unified sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team.
Head of Delegation (HOD)
Bonnie Pautsch-Dyakin
Bonnie has been leading our team since 2017. She is our main contact with SOMN and your go-to person with questions. She has also been a head and assistant coach.
Registration Coordinator
Julie Blackmore
Julie ensures all of our athletes required forms are up-to-date. She also verifies all coaches and unified athlete have current forms. She will send out notices as renewal deadlines approach. She also assists with event registrations.
Finance Coordinator
Loy Palma
Loy joined our team in 2019. She is in charge of monitoring our financial account and approving new expenses.
Kyle Tillison
Asst HOD, Rental Space Coordinator, Website
Kyle has been the assistant HOD for our team since 2015. He seeks out and rents space for our teams to practice. He maintains this website as well. Kyle has been a head and assistant coach, unified partner, and finance coordinator.
Rochelle Tillison
Fundraising Coordinator
Rochelle organizes our team's fundraising efforts. She leads the outreach to local businesses in supporting our team. Our main fundraiser is the Polar Plunge each February.
Come on out and support our athletes! You can even come join one of our unified teams, or simply volunteer.
Our Mission
To provide athletes a place to compete in sports they enjoy. It may be more about getting out with other kids versus winning for some. In turn we hope to continue establishing our community of families.
Our Vision
We envision this site becoming a one stop shop for all our team communications. Events will be posted so they are easy to track. A private area will be established for sharing of pictures, getting feedback from our families, and having conversations in general.
"Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."
-Athlete oath, Special Olympics of Minnesota (SOMN)