Special Olympics Jamaica’s (SOJ) male footballers dominated the spotlight at the Unified Cup after copping the major team and individual prizes following a 2-0 victory over Paraguay in Saturday’s division one final at Keyworth Stadium in Michigan, United States.

Ellis Guscott and Ontwain Mitchell scored for the Shane Richards-coached SOJ team.

The all-conquering Jamaicans, who did not concede a goal while scoring 23 times in six matches, bettered their finish from four years ago when they had lost 0-1 to France in the division two final in Illinois.

Saturday’s win was particularly sweet for the Jamaica team because it came on the 60th anniversary of the country’s Independence from colonial rule.

SOJ’s unified partner Dillion Richards, who topped the list of scorers with seven goals, was the men’s Golden Boot winner, while Omarion Brown was awarded the Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

The Special Olympics Caribbean women’s team, comprising players from Aruba, Haiti, The Bahamas and Jamaica, was fourth in division two behind winners Slovakia. Notably, Guatemala’s women commandingly beat hosts United States 5-1 in the division one final.

Team Caribbean goalkeeper Nicole Wright was one of the outstanding women players at the tournament, with statistics indicating she made 61 saves in the side’s opening four games.

The unified sports programme, a focus of the Special Olympics movement, combines people with intellectual disabilities and those without disabilities in training and competition.

Through sport activities and competition, the Special Olympics International movement aims to break down barriers that exclude people with intellectual disabilities, such as autism and Down’s syndrome, from mainstream society.

The disabilities can either be acquired or genetic, and can also include cases of cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and some cases of developmental delay.

— Sanjay Myers