Special Olympics Bharat athletes gear up for Unified Football Cup in Chicago

23 March 2018, New Delhi: 6 intellectually challenged athletes from Special Olympics Bharat will be teaming up with 5 football athletes to participate in the first Unified football training Camp to be held from 24- 28 March 2018 at the Scottish High International School, Gurgaon. The training is a run up to the United Football Cup in Chicago to be held from July 17^th to 20^th, 2018. While the athletes from Special Olympics Bharat are from the Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Mizoram , Kerala, Goa and Delhi the Unified Partners are from Delhi and Goa. All participants will be staying in the school premises. Along with 5 SO Bharat Football Coaches, two Coaches from Delhi Dynamos will be training the Unified football team

The training sessions will be held on 25, 26, 27 and 28 March 2018 from 6AM - 8 AM and from 3PM – 6:30PM. The Camp at Gurgaon will be a preparation for the Special Olympics Unified Football Cup, Chicago 2018. The training and participation of the Indian contingent from Special Olympics Bharat is being supported exclusively by Herbalife Nutrition, the premier global nutrition company.

Herbalife Nutrition has partnered with Special Olympics Bharat to train and develop athletes with intellectual disabilities.

Alongside Football training, 300-400 Athletes will be screened for physical fitness along with a counselling session which would be conducted for the footballing Athletes on 27 March 2018 (TBC). The Athletes will be screened across Opening Eyes supervised by Dr Monica Choudhary and Funfitness which will be supervised by Dr Savarna from the PGI Medical School Rohtak. The Clinical Directors will be supported by volunteers from Panipat and Gurgaon

About The Unified Cup Chicago

The Unified Cup Chicago , presented by TOYOTA (SOUFC 2018), will be held from 17-20 July 2018 The five day Unified Football Cup is a celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of Special Olympics. 24 teams (16 male and 8 female) will be participating from Bharat (India), Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Japan (Nippon),Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Slovakia, United Arab Emirates, United States and Uruguay

TO FIGHT FOR OUR ATHLETES, WE ARE FIGHTING FOR LIFE ITSELF ... A FOOTBALL BALL ISN'T ABOUT A NICE EVENT FOR "THEM" BUT RATHER ABOUT AN URGENT MOVEMENT DESIGNED TO SAVE LIVES AND OFFER HOPE AND DIGNITY TO ALL OF US."

-TIM SHRIVER

About Special Olympics Bharat

Special Olympics Bharat which is a National Sports Federation having over 13 lakh Special Athletes registered from all the States and Union Territories of India. SO Bharat is accredited by Special Olympics Inc, Washington, to conduct Special Olympics Programs all over India. Special Olympics, an international organization, organizes Olympic-type sports for persons with intellectual disabilities, unleashing the human spirit through the transformative power and joy of sports every day around the world. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown from a few hundred athletes to 5.5 million athletes in 172 countries.

Special Olympics Bharat organizes sports and competitions at various levels- local, district, state, national and international and based on abilities and performance athletes cross each level to participate at higher consecutive levels. While sports remains the mainstay of the Special Olympics Program the capacity of the athletes are constantly developed through regular trainings and additional initiatives that help strengthen the athletes- mentally , physically and emotionally.

Special Olympics Bharat is recognized by the Government of India as a National Sports Federation in the Priority Category for the development of Sports for Persons with Intellectually Disability and has been designated as the Nodal Agency by the Government for all disabilities on account of its national presence, outreach and experience.

About 50 years Celebrations- 2018

Special Olympics is celebrating 50 years of creating a more inclusive, welcoming world for all. The global celebrations will inspire new generations to see the beauty, dignity and talent of persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Since 1968, Special Olympics has been changing attitudes about the talents of people with intellectual disabilities. Since 1968, Special Olympics has been changing the world

India celebrates having over 1.3 million Athletes from all the states and Union Territories successfully having nurtured sporting skills of the Athletes (persons with Intellectual disabilities) for the World Games over the years, with growing support of the Government of India and a wide network of educational institutions. With the support of global entities like the LCI, ESPN, IKEA Foundation, Herbalife Nutrition, WWE, HASBRO the platform of providing opportunities to one of the most marginalized and invisible segments of the society accentuates the message and urgency of Inclusion.

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