Only one in 500 children with intellectual disability are given the chance to play football.
Evening the Playing Field
We know that by bringing football to more athletes worldwide, Special Olympics gets close to evening the playing field for people with intellectual disabilities. With this objective the Special Olympics Global Football initiative was established.
As one of the most popular of the 31 official sports offered within Special Olympics, in Europe and Eurasia we have achieved significant progress toward expansion of football opportunities for people with intellectual disability. Our long term partnership with UEFA We Care programme has helped us achieve these milestones.
Best Practice
Today there are almost 120,000 athletes playing football across the region supported by a vast national network of football coordinators, coaches and volunteers. Four video training kits have been produced to date covering Skills training, Goal Keeping, Divisioning and Assistant Coaching.
16 European-level football competitions have taken place since 2000 and hugely popular annual Special Olympics European Football Week attracts more than 50,000 athletes with activities happening across the 58 countries of the Europe/Eurasia region, with local football clubs and federations as well as the media getting involved.
To continue to increase opportunities for more players, we will need continued support from national football associations, clubs, volunteer coaches, sponsors and the media to help us create new and exciting opportunities for Special Olympics players in the years to come.
For more information on SOEE Football programmes contact Miroslav Krogulec, Senior Manager, Organisational Development and Sports at mkrogulec@specialolympics.org