Onward Gangata, [email protected]
SPECIAL Olympics Zimbabwe’s push for the growth of unified sports in the country took another giant leap following the successful completion of a course which drew 85 participants in the Midlands last week.
The training which concluded in Gweru on Friday had 84 participants referred to as ‘local actors.’
These were mainly teachers, coaches, sports administrators, care givers and parents of children living with intellectual disabilities.
Unified Sports is when athletes living with intellectual disability mix with those without intellectual disability in the same team and compete together.
The whole idea being to promote inclusivity and eliminate discrimination of people with disabilities.
Special Olympics Zimbabwe national vice sports director Owen Makaruwa said the main objective of the training was to raise awareness on unified sports.
“The main objective of this training was to raise awareness on unified sports,” he told The Zimpapers Sports Hub.
“This training is a roadmap for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities within sports associations, schools, teams and the whole community. We want to have people with intellectual disabilities and those without to be able to train and play together in the same team.”
The training in the Midlands was part of an on-going program and added another layer to the growing number of ‘local actors’ trained in Masvingo, Harare and Mutare.
