This weekend, I officially made the trip to Minnesota as I gear up to cover my third straight Special Olympics USA Games. Over the last two days, I’ve had the chance to see firsthand how the Twin Cities are gearing up for USA Games action. This post will provide an inside look across the region of what to expect over the next week.

No Flutie-sponsored trip starts without a visit to Flutie Pass

I am extremely grateful to The Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism for sponsoring my trip to Minnesota, and coincidentally, this Flutie-sponsored trip began on Flutie Pass in Framingham, Massachusetts. Flutie Pass is named after Doug Flutie’s famous Hail Mary at Boston College. Recently, the road became home to even more history when the nation’s first remote airport terminal was constructed there. The Logan Airport Remote Terminal allowed me to pass through security about 20 miles away from the airport. From there, I hopped on a Logan Express bus that took me directly to the gates at Terminal A. Just a couple hours later, I was in the air on the way to the Twin Cities.

Opening Ceremonies unites athletes across America

Once I landed in Minnesota and dropped off my bags at the hotel, it was off to Huntington Bank Stadium. The stadium is normally home to University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football, but on this day, it was the host site to hundreds of athletes across the country for the USA Games Opening Ceremonies. When I arrived at the stadium, my press pass was ready to go and I was taken up to the VIP section on the top floor of the stadium. This gave me a great view of the event, and while I was up there I had the chance to meet Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar!

The view up top was amazing, but before I left, I also went down into the stands to get a closer look at the action, just how I had done at my first USA Games in 2018:

From there, I went to explore some other landmarks across the city, and found USA Games fan zones along the way.

Fan zones take over Minnesota in preparation for the big week

As the Twin Cities prepare to host the USA Games, fan zones are set up at several different sites. One of those fan zones is located at perhaps the most significant landmark in the entire state of Minnesota, the Mall of America:

If you’re unable to make it over to the mall, there’s also fan zones set up closer to the action, including one wedged right between the Victory Links Golf Course and the welcome building at the National Sports Center:

STARS Golf already making a splash

As mentioned in the 2026 USA Games preview here on BostonSportsMania.com, two of the Flutie Foundation’s own STARS of the Spectrum golfers made the trip to Minnesota for these USA Games: Daniel Steele and Vince Egan. Both Steele and Egan were in action today, as Steele completed a practice round alongside his tee group for tomorrow (which includes Garrett Stortz of Alaska and Peyton Mattingly of Texas). Egan attended meetings and spent some time out on the course to prepare him for his first USA Games as a rules official.

Egan, who’s from Colorado, additionally introduced us to Zachary Lewis, Colorado’s 2026 USA Games representative in Level Five Golf. Much like Steele and the other Level Five Golfers, Lewis completed a practice round today with his Monday tee group: Zachary Duncan of North Carolina and Tyler Tolleson of Kansas.

As the practice round began to wind down, I also had the chance to get my first in-person look at Victory Links.

A closer look: Victory Links Golf Course

Check out the following video learn more about the course and hear from the director of golf at Victory Links, Tom Kirkland:

I also made a pitstop at the venue within the National Sports Center where pickleball will be taking place.

A closer look: Pickleball at the National Sports Center

Thanks to USA Games sponsor Pickleroll, state-of-the-art pickleball courts have been constructed on top of one of the turf fields at the National Sports Center. I had the chance to take a look at the courts and spoke to Keron Poteat, who is managing pickleball at the USA Games this week. Poteat has over 30 years of Special Olympics volunteer experience and was kind enough to provide us with some additional background information headed into tomorrow’s competition. See the video below for some final information before the round robins kick off tomorrow:

Thank you to the USA Games staff!

Before I conclude this post, I want to thank all the 2026 USA Games staff members that have helped enhance my experience in Minnesota, including the following:

• Jessica Poole, who has provided me with lots of important information about the events as well as my press credentials
• Brittany Barutt, who has kindly provided me with a golf cart to use over the next four days and was kind enough to spend some extra time with me in the Satellite Media Center today
• Glenna Adams, who gave me a number of golf cart rides around the National Sports Center when we were exploring today

These USA Games would not be possible without the hard work of the staff and volunteers here in the Twin Cities.

Competition will be underway for both golf and pickleball tomorrow, and I’ll be providing daily recaps of all the action!