The Alabama State Games were founded in 1982 at the request of the United States Olympic Committee. Each year the games host thousands of athletes through a collection of 20+ sports. Over $364,000 scholarships have been given out over the years at the opening ceremony and this year $50,000 will be awarded.
This year the 41st ceremony will start on June 7th at the Legacy Arena at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Athletes will check in at 3 p.m. and the State Farm Athlete Leadership Summit will start at 5 p.m. All attendees are welcomed and 10 $1,000 scholarships will be given at random to registered athletes.
Robby Bradford is the director of community outreach for the Alabama State Games. He says there will be multiple mascots across the state to help pep up the crowd along with a keynote speaker.
“We’re going to have a keynote speaker at our athlete Leadership Summit, which is designed for the athletes who compete in the games to come and get an idea about what the world is like outside of competitive sports. So we offer speakers who will tell them about opportunities and jobs that they can have as athletics outside of actually competing, if they want to do that,” Bradford said.
After the ceremony, 20 $1,000 scholarships and 2 $5,000 scholarships will be given out at random to registered athletes. Players must be present to be eligible.
Games and competitions will take place June 8th and June 9th.
The ultimate goal for the ASF Foundation is to grow and help the community.
“This is kind of a community program essentially. So everything that we everything that we do and build goes back to the community and goes back to the program and part of that is the volunteers. They make up such a large portion of what we do and we appreciate them and we would love to shout them out and award them accolades every year,” Bradford said.
One of the things that make this opportunity special is the fact anyone can participate in the competition.
“The great part about the Alabama State Games is that it's open to all participants of all ages and all abilities. We like to think that success comes in different forms. And its success is different for everyone. And we want to help everyone kind of achieve their own version of success at our events,” Bradford said.
The state is split into four regionals by county for the competition: North, East, South, and West. If someone is from out of state, they will be sorted into a random region. Regional county map can be found here.
The opening ceremony is free to the public. However, the individual sporting events have small fees. A statewide television broadcast will be available for those who can’t be in attendance.
Volunteers are still welcomed to register to help assist with day to day activities. Interested volunteers can register here.
