SOJ footballers to depart for Unified Cup
A 20-member team from Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) is set to depart the island tomorrow to participate in the first-ever Special Olympics Toyota Unified Football Cup in Chicago, United States.
The competition, part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Special Olympics Games — recognising decades of courage, empowerment and progress — is slated to run from Tuesday to Saturday.
The team from SOJ is the only from the Caribbean set to feature in the Unified Football Cup. Teams from 19 other countries across the globe are also invited.
The tournament is to include 16 male and eight female unified teams, with each including players with and without intellectual disabilities alongside each other.
The move is part of the Special Olympics International drive to promote inclusion by “playing unified and living unified”.
Jamaica’s team will play its first preliminary against Nigeria on the opening day of competition. The final match will be broadcast live on ESPN 2.
Special Olympics Jamaica started its unified football programme in 2007, and the athletes have been in preparation for this competition, their version of the FIFA World Cup, for the past two years.
Having been with SOJ from the start, the unified partners have embraced the concept of the tournament with great passion and dedication.
As part of the 50th celebration, Special Olympics has been challenging people across the globe to join their ‘Revolution is Inclusion’ campaign, which is an all-out effort led by its athletes to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities and to deliver a fully inclusive world.
Squad: Special athletes — Damion Gordon, Allan Gordon, Rodricka Beckford, Renaldo Hunter, Carey Rowe, Kemar Jones, Shane Sewell and Ricardo Saunders, Trevaughn Isaacs.
Unified partners — Moran Singh, Tajay Able, Lance Rutherford, Andrade Hunt, Shawn Beckford, Shaquon Beckford, Clive Jarrett.
Officials: Lennox Christie (head of delegation), Shane Richards (head coach), Malachi Brown (assistant coach), Nicholas Ford (physiotherapist).
