Not all children are created equal, but the specially abled among them have shown that they have what it takes to succeed.
The Maharashtra chapter of the government-recognised Special Olympics Bharat (SOB), on Thursday showcased this spirit at a Children’s Day event in Mumbai. The SOB is a national sports federation recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and works towards using sports as a catalyst to transform the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Thursday’s event, organised in connection with the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), was attended by Charlotte Flair, a 10-time WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion, who interacted with 30 children and five coaches to raise awareness about Special Olympics. “Sports is the one thing that unites everyone universally and it is important to celebrate all children since they are the future,” Ms. Flair said at the event.
Hansini Raut, SOB’s programme manager in Maharashtra, said the State has 75,000 differently-abled SOB athletes trained by 6,000 coaches. “The children are trained in 18 sports that are included in the summer and winter Olympic games. Despite all the training, participating in the world games and winning medals, society still does not accept these children,” she said. “Due to this reason, SOB’s focus is not limited to improving their performance in sports but also in developing their social skills so that they can be seamlessly included in society.”
Aparivita, a student of the SPJ Sadhana School on Bhulabhai Desai Road, has been receiving training from SOB coaches for the past five years. She represented India for the first time in the Special Olympics World Summer Games at Abu Dhabi this year and was at the sixth and eighth place in 100-m and 200-m races respectively. “I had a lot of fun there and athletes from different countries praised me for my accomplishments,” she said.
Aparivita’s mentor, Gayatri Pore, said she has immense potential in becoming an athlete leader and is working towards building her speaking skills and confidence.
“We train athletes like her so they can be their own voice. There is nothing technical in the training. We just need to understand our athletes at a deeper level and maintain constant contact with them to develop trust. I am very proud of the progress Aparivita has made,” Ms. Pore said.
Madhav Bhalerao, who has been an SOB coach for over 21 years, said the importance of sports in developing crucial social skills such as empathy and team spirit, alongside physical developments such as balance, motor skills and coordination, is unparalleled.
“Through sports, children are able to grasp social skills more easily, which they would reluctantly do if merely instructed. Our aim is to help them become a part of society and let them live as independently as we do,” Mr. Bhalerao said.
Ms. Pore said, when children participate in the national or world games, their confidence receives an immediate boost, as does their ability to interact with people from different regions and learn from them. “Language has never been a barrier when the children interact. There is no discrimination or even a sense of competition when they participate in a tournament. They just want to all win together,” she said.
This year, the SOB sent a delegation of 400 children to represent India in the summer Special Olympics. Since parents are not allowed to be with the athletes, coaches act as surrogate parents and remain close to the children throughout the training camps and tournaments.
