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Youth Unified Sports football team from Papa/Hungary: Coach Csaba Brad is first on left side, back row; Special Olympics athlete Adam Horvath and partner Karoly Sapi, are in the back row, third and fourth from the left. (Photos by Sabine Brecklinghaus, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia.) |
Special Olympics Hungary organized the 2008 National Youth Unified Sports® Football Tournament in Szeged, Hungary, from 3-5 October 2008. Twelve teams - 120 players with and without intellectual disability aged 14-25 - competed in 7-a-side football in the “Kisstadion.”
“It is a tremendous privilege for me to have been selected as a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics," said Simplis. "I know that it is an honor usually reserved for well-known international figures and persons far worthier than I. I thank you for the trust and confidence which the appointment signifies, and I assure you that I will do my very best to promote the movement and the more than 2.5 million Special Olympics athletes around the world that the movement represents.”
The aim of Special Olympics Unified Sports is to break down social barriers between individuals with (“athletes”) and without intellectual disabilities (“partners”) by bringing them together on teams for sports training and competition.
The competition was held as part of a Unified Football Youth project in which Special Olympics is partnering with the Vodafone Foundation to bring inclusive activities to young people between the ages of 14 and 25 in six countries in Europe. The Vodafone Foundation has invested £500,000 in the project over three years.
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Adam Horvath (left) and Karoly Sapi |
During the competition, the continuous downpour did not dampen the players' spirits. Special Olympics athlete Adam Horvath, 16, from special school “Balla Robert” in Papa, said, “The pitch was wet and slippery but that did not matter. We played with a lot of effort and won all our matches.”
The team from Papa is coached by Csaba Brad, 52, a physical education teacher at the local mainstream school “Kastely Oktatasi Kozpon.” He also is a youth coach at the City Football Club of Papa that plays in the Hungarian first league and has integrated the Youth Unified Football Project into the club structure. Brad said, “This is a great competition, very well organized with very fair matches. The team members are getting to know each other through both the travel and competition experience.”
Karoly Sapi, 15, a partner from mainstream school “Kastely Oktatasi Kozpon” in Papa and Adam Horvath's teammate, spoke about the experience of being a member of a Unified football team. “Two months ago when we came together for the first time for training it was a bit strange for me. I had never played football with peers with an intellectual disability before. Now I like to be on this team. There is a lot of respect for each other. Everybody found his role and I made a lot of new friends. I hope we can continue to play on this team for a long time.”
The competition was strongly supported by the Football Federation of the County of Csongrad. Federation President Janos Talpei said, “I am impressed by the size of the tournament. It's great to see so many Unified teams playing football here. We are happy to support Special Olympics through the Unified Youth Football project. It's a great concept. Watching the matches you cannot recognize who on the pitch has a disability and who does not have a disability. All players are equal.”
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