Big Sky State Games

What are the Big Sky State Games?
The Big Sky State Games is an Olympic-style amateur sports festival for people of all ages and abilities that reside in the Great State of Montana. Residents in bordering states that do not have State Games are invited to participate (Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming). The Games are a member of the National Congress of State Games and recognized by the United States Olympic Committee.

The Big Sky State Games has grown since the inaugural year in 1986 when 3,376 athletes participated in 12 sports, to 10,000 athletes competing in 36 sports in 2013. In the past twenty-seven years, over 264,000 athletes from more than 250 Montana communities have participated in the Games. The Big Sky State Games rank number one in the nation in per capita participation.

The State Games concept was developed in New York in 1978 with the Empire State Games. State Games feature the sports of the Olympic and Pan-American Games as well as an occasional local favorite. They attract athletes of a wide variety of ages, backgrounds, and skill levels, bringing out future and former Olympians as well as athletes for whom State Games are a real career highlight.