Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

Selection for a special Olympics

Syed Muthahar Saqaf

SKILL TEST: A youngster taking the skill test at Anna Stadium in Tiruchi. — Photo: M. Moorthy.

TIRUCHI: The method adopted to select players for the state football team at the selection trials was different. The playfield in Anna Stadium in Tiruchi, venue of the trials, was much smaller than the normal football ground. The coaches were trying to identify the dribbling, passing and shooting talents of the participants without forcing them to play a speedy game.

The participants were intellectually disabled. The trial was organised by the Special Olympics Bharat - Thamizhagam in connection with the 2005 Special Olympics Bharat National Games. The national soccer tournament was scheduled to be held in Kolkata on Friday and Saturday.

The special Olympics is a programme organised for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and delayed development. The programme had 14 events classified according to different fitness levels.

A large number of youngsters in the 16-21 age group from 10 institutions in the state, including Balavihar Special School, Chennai; Shanthi Niketan Special School, Nagercoil; Opportunity School, Chennai; CSI Balar Gnana Illam, Salem; CSI School for Mentally Challenged, Sivakasi; Karunya Illam, Salem; Vidivelli, Tiruchi etc., participated in the selection trials.

Sethu, coach, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and Paul Devasagayam, coach trained by Special Olympics - India, conducted skills assessment tests on the occasion. The selection was made based on the individual's dribbling, passing and shooting skills.

"The special Olympics trained coaches alone will be able to impart specialised training in sports to the intellectually challenged. But, at present only a few such coaches are available in the State. We are going to conduct special training programmes for coaches shortly," Sivakumar, secretary of Special Olympics Bharat - Thamizhagam, said.

Special Olympics Bharat, in an effort to train more intellectually challenged youngsters in sports, has set itself the target of identifying 15,000 such children in the State this year. To achieve this goal, the Thamizhagam unit has taken steps to form district coordination committees in all the districts. Local service organisations would be roped in to help them reach the target, he added.

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