MARGAO
A five-day summer coaching camp for Unified Football, organised by Special Olympics Bharat-Goa in collaboration with Karuna Football Foundation’s Aspire Community Transformation School (ACTS), concluded at Sultan Bathery, Wayanad, on Friday.
The camp brought together 20 specially abled athletes from Kripalaya Special School and Nirmal Jyoti School, along with 10 able-bodied players as Unified Partners. ACTS was set up as part of post-landslide rehabilitation efforts in Wayanad.
The camp focused on the Unified Football model, where athletes with intellectual disabilities and partners without disabilities play together, promoting inclusion, teamwork and mutual respect.
The programme was led by Victor Vaz, former National Sports Director of Special Olympics Bharat, with support from Milton Fernandes, former Director of Sports at Goa University, and Gifton Prince, ACTS convenor.
Participants engaged in structured coaching sessions, skill drills and team-building activities over five days. The camp ended with an exhibition match at Moolankave.
“The Unified football camp helped bring together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities on the same field… ability matters more than differences,” said Vaz.
Fernandes termed it “a meaningful step towards an inclusive sporting community in Wayanad.”
