Vital funding to develop Unified Sports has been provided by the European Commission under the Preparatory Action in the Field of Sport 2009.
With the European Union as partner, the 2010/11 Special Olympics EU Youth Unified Sports Development Project will develop Unified Basketall and Football programmes for young people between 12-25 years in 10 EU states: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Romania. The programme targets at recruiting at least 2,000 new Unified players across the two sports.
Activities under the Special Olympics EU Youth Football Development Project include football tournaments on local, regional and national levels, clinics, seminars, press conferences and promotional events. Football associations and professional clubs are supporting the community-based initiatives. In addition to Unified Football, there is an emphasis on volunteer coach recruitment and training.
Through sports training and competition, Unified Football has proven to break down barriers that prevent young people with and without intellectual disabilities from engaging in authentic and positive dialogue
For more information on the United Football programme in Europe/Eurasia contact Sabine Menke, Senior Manager, Youth, Education and Unified Sports at smenke@specialolympics.org
Download the official brochure of the 2010/11 Special Olympics EU Youth Unified Sports Development Project.