SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend Special Olympics founder commemorated by B’dos athletes, supporters 10/3/2013 Special Olympics International has established EKS Day as an annual commemoration and celebration of the life of the late founder of the organisation, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. The day is observed by Special Olympics programmes worldwide. Mrs. Shriver, sister of late US President John F. Kennedy, believed that if people with intellectual challenges were given the same opportunities and experiences as everyone else, they could accomplish far more than anyone ever thought possible. It was this belief that led to the creation of Special Olympics in 1968. The organisation now serves more than four million people with intellectual challenges in more than 170 countries. This past Saturday, the Barbados observance of EKS Day, hosted by the Barbados Golf Club, was a Unified Sports Golf Fun Competition. In Unified Sports, Special Olympics athletes compete with and alongside those without disabilities. Several teams, composed of Special Olympics athletes, coaches, parents and Barbados Golf Club personnel and members, took to the manicured links for a great afternoon of golf. In Special Olympics, every participant is a winner, which meant that all the golfers taking part were awarded gold medals and the Barbados Golf Club provided gift vouchers from the Lucky Horseshoe Restaurants and the Cliff Restaurant. Golf is the newest sports discipline to be introduced to Special Olympics Barbados athletes. Following a week-long Golf Clinic and Workshop, which involved both the training of coaches and the introduction of the game to athletes, Special Olympics golfers underwent summer training at a variety of golf courses. The support coming from all local golf clubs has been a key factor in implementing the new programme. It is hoped that by the year 2015, Special Olympics Barbados will be able to include golfers in the team it plans to send to the Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held in Los Angeles, California. At the last World Summer Games, held in Athens, Greece, Barbados sent seven athletes, all of whom returned home with gold, silver and bronze medals in compe-tition against participants from more than 170 countries. The effort to raise the necessary funds to send a larger team to Los Angeles is being spearheaded by Digicel, which has established the “Digicel Road to the World Games Fund”. Donations can be made directly to the fund at CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, account number 1001111009. Digicel and other supportive businesses have also placed “Road to the World Games” collection tins in various locations nationwide.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:11:29 +0000