POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe — Special Olympics Guadeloupe National Director Guy Vala was in a buoyant mood after the French-speaking territory hosted the region’s first-ever 3×3 unified basketball tournament two weeks ago.

The tournament, showcasing unified and special athletes, promoted social inclusion by combining people with and without intellectual disabilities for sport competition, thereby helping to build awareness and to foster behavioural change.

The competition featured Special Olympics unified basketball delegations from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Maarten, and Trinidad & Tobago. The Guadeloupe programme fielded two teams.

“It was a success for everyone, and with the exposure on television, people were able to see what Special Olympics unified competition is all about in a French territory,” Vala told the Jamaica Observer as the curtain came down on the November 14-15 tournament.

“I knew we could do it [successfully host a regional event], and now other authorities, the government, and everybody know it can be done. As a French territory the systems are different than in the English Caribbean but we made it work,” he said, while acknowledging the support from partners including Guadeloupe’s government, Lions Clubs International Foundation and Aruna Abhey Oswal Trust.

The basketball games were hosted at the Daniel Cassin gymnasium in Saint-Claude, while the tournament was officially opened with a ceremonial event at Stade de Rivière-des-Pères.

St Maarten won gold in Division 1, while Jamaica claimed silver. One of the two Guadeloupe teams took gold in Division 2, while Trinidad & Tobago won silver. Dominica claimed gold in Division 3, while Antigua and Barbuda held onto silver.

Vala praised the people who volunteered during the games, and made special mention of the Université des Antilles students who supported the visiting delegation members — most of whom were from English-speaking countries — with language translation.

“This [tournament] was a big challenge for me because it’s the first time in the French [Caribbean] that a country was organising a regional tournament. With the language barrier it was not easy for volunteers, athletes and others, so it was a big challenge. But we were successful,” the Special Olympics Guadeloupe national director emphasised.

Ferdinand Bibby, the Special Olympics Trinidad and Tobago national director who served on the tournament technical committee, said the performances of athletes from the various countries grabbed his attention.

“The level of ability of the athletes led to some keen competition once the teams were grouped in their final divisions, and we had some close games. It was impressive how the different teams came in and adapted well.

“This 3 versus 3 format was a first for many of the countries, so it showed that the individual programmes were able to prepare well to come to this tournament,” Bibby noted.

Clayton Williams, who was the competition’s assistant technical director, told the Observer that he and his colleague enjoyed a smooth-running action from the opening buzzer to the end.

“The execution here was very simple…because everything to properly stage the tournament was in place. The venue was well prepared, so kudos to those who were responsible for putting things in place.

“From the technical aspect of staging games we didn’t have any hiccups and where there were challenges we were able to overcome them,” Williams said.

— Sanjay Myers

BIBBY…it was impressive how the different teams came in and adapted well

Special Olympics Jamaica players Maurice Hinds (centre) and Javaughanie Taylor (right) attempt to catch the ball as Eli Brunson of Special Olympics St Maarten looks on during the regional 3×3 unified basketball Division 1 final at Daniel Cassin Gymnasium in Guadeloupe on Novermber 15, 2025.

From left: Special Olympics Jamaica unified basketball players Javaughanie Taylor, Ryheem Martell, Tasanna Campbell, Maurice Hinds, and Aaliyah Brown during a break in competition at the 3×3 unified tournament in Guadeloupe in November 2025.