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Special Olympic Zimbabwe is using sports as a catalyst for the inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities in schools and communities. This was revealed during the organisation’s two-day Coaches Training, Young Athletes, Family Health and Youth Activation Forum held at Latter Day Saints Church in Kadoma.
Coaches drawn from Sanyati district schools converged at Latter Day Saints Church to improve their training experiences and enhance their skills as the organisation promoted the initiative “Unified Sports” which aimed at the inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities together with intellectually-gifted persons in sports.
The organisation targets to position people with intellectual disabilities as leaders in sustaining acceptance and inclusion hence the workshop for the coaches aimed at coaches to gain knowledge on how to train and accommodate persons with intellectual disabilities along with persons without intellectual disabilities as they play sports together.
Unified Sports is a program offered by Special Olympics that brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete as teammates. The program is seen as a way to promote social inclusion, understanding, and acceptance through shared sports experiences. Together, (persons with and without intellectual disabilities) participate in sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, golf, swimming and other sporting activities.
During the training workshop, the National Director of Special Olympic Zimbabwe, Mrs Lillian Chikara, said the Unified Sports program fosters friendships and camaraderie, develops teamwork and communication skills, encourages social inclusion and acceptance, and provides a fun and supportive environment for all participants.
“We are here for the workshop to train coaches about the Unified Sports program which we are bringing to all as persons with and without intellectual disabilities together so they compete in various sporting disciplines and by playing together. Unified Sports break down barriers and create a more inclusive and supportive community for everyone involved,” said the Director.
Speaking on the sidelines of the workshop, the National Sports Director for Special Olympic Zimbabwe, Mr. John Muringani, said the organisation was moving around Zimbabwe training coaches about Unified Sports where children with intellectual disabilities play along with children without intellectual disabilities. He also said that Unified Sports fosters teamwork and self-belonging.
“Unified Sports is a program offered by Special Olympics that brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete as teammates. Unified sports promotes social inclusion, understanding, and acceptance through shared sports experiences, and together, they participate in sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, golf, and more,” said Muringani.
During the two-day workshop, the Special Olympic Zimbabwe had other workshops running concurrently with the coaches’ workshop and they included young athletes who were involved in a play-and-learn model for children aged 2-7 years. The program kept young ones and their families engaged and it was meant to instill the tenets of spots at a very young age.
The program included children with and without intellectual disabilities, Youth Activation, Siblings and Families Forum, and Family Health Forums that provided a space for parents, caregivers, and siblings of people with intellectual disabilities.
Special Olympic Zimbabwe National Director, Lillian Chikara, said the coming coaches’ training workshop will go a long way as it helps the coaches identify athletes with intellectual disabilities. The introduction of Unified Sports will help the coaches to include persons with Intellectual Disabilities in schools and the community.
During the official opening of the workshop, Sanyati District Schools Inspector, Mr. Joseph Majasi, encouraged the participants to take the workshop seriously and gain experience on how to include people with intellectual disabilities in various sporting disciplines and play with them together with persons without intellectual disabilities. The participants got the coaching Certificates after they completed the two-day workshop.
Some of the participants, Nicxon Mawere, Maplank Lazarus, and Wire Loice were happy to experience and gain knowledge on how to include persons with intellectual disabilities in sports. They said that they were going to include persons with intellectual disabilities in soccer, basketball, and volleyball where they have more strength.