Unified Sports
Sports
Unified Sports
Special Olympics Nigeria is dedicated to promoting social inclusion by providing sports training and athletic competition experiences for people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team, breaking down stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities in a really fun way. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.
In Unified Sports, teams are made up of people of similar age and ability which makes practices more fun and the games more challenging and exciting for all. Having sport in common is just one more way that preconceptions and false ideas are swept away.
Unified Sports Involves:
Basketball
Volleyball
Football
Unified Sports Partners:
- National Institute of Sports
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
- Coca-Cola International
- ExxonMobil
- The Coca-cola Company
- Lion’s Club International
- ESPN
International Competitions
NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Sports 2015
In 2015, SO Nigeria was invited for the first time to participate at the 4th annual NBA Cares Special Olympics Uninfied Basketball Game in New York, USA. SO Nigeria athlete, Chidalu Onwunze represented the organization at the NBA All-Star 2015 which featured Stephen Curry which tipped off the game and served as honourary coach alongside Andre Drummond, Wesley Matthews and others.
NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Sports 2015
NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Sports 2016
In the next year, Temitope Amodu was selected to represent SO Nigeria and Africa at the 5th annual NBA Cares Special Olympics Uninfied Basketbal Game at NBA All-Star 2016 in Toronto, Canada. She played alongside NBA and WNBA legends including Bruce Bowen, Jason Collins, Tamika Catchimgs and others.
NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Sports 2016
50th Anniversary Special Olympics Unified Cup Chicago 2018
The inclusion movement which started in 1968 at Chicago, returned there 50 years later to celebrate the progress of the movement and launch the next 50 years of the Inclusion Revolution. The week long event featured the first ever Special Olympics Unified Cup which was presented by Toyota. Twenty-four female and male Unified teams comprising of players with and without intellectual disabilities participated. Special Olympics Nigeria Unified Football team won the title of Best Team of the Tournament.
