PANAJI: SO Bharat hosted a send-off ceremony for the Unified female football team at the India International Center, New Delhi today. Six athletes and five Unified partners from 6 states are part of the team for Unified Cup 2022 Detroit to be held in Michigan, USA.
The event was graced by Virender Kumar, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt of India, who presided as chief guest wishing luck to the athletes. He was joined by many other distinguished guests, including the SO Bharat officials, Dr Mallika Nadda, Chairperson, Dr DG Chaudhari, General Secretary, Air Cmde Sharma, Executive Director.
In the words of Dr Nadda: “The Unified Cup is back again to draw attention of the world to the outstanding power that Unified Sports has in combining people from different backgrounds and abilities, on and off the sports field. In view of the practises and a rigorous schedule followed by the trainers, coaches and the team-mates, I have no doubt that we will place our best foot forward in Detroit. The energy and bonding that I have observed within the team is striking and I would like to reach out to India and beyond, to open your hearts and accept people who are different. This is the underlying meaning of events such as this. Let us join hands to make Inclusion a reality and this world a better place.”
In the words of Virender Kumar : “Prior to the send-off the team was attending the final preparatory camp at the Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana for the past ten days, upgrading individual skills as well as practising competitions with various football teams. Six athletes and five Unified partners from 6 states are geared to face the global football competition to be held in Detroit, Michigan, USA.”
The Special Olympics Unified Cup 2022 presented by Toyota will show the world how the power of sport builds and shapes a diverse community that unites and empowers people of all abilities, from all backgrounds. Detroit will welcome over 300 footballers from over 20 nations to compete in football (soccer).
The event is slated for 31 July – 6 August, 2022 and Special Olympics Unified Sports® is what makes it uniquely inclusive: teams are comprised of footballers with and without intellectual disabilities playing together. The Special Olympics Unified Cup features competition broadcast to hundreds of millions of viewers across the globe. The week-long event will showcase athletic performances on the pitch, and highlight stereotype-defying stories off the pitch—changing minds and opening hearts through transformational inclusion. The 2022 Detroit event will be the second-ever tournament in this single-sport series. The first edition of the tournament was held in 2018 in Chicago.
