Sport for everyone
The experience of Special Olympics teaches that the pragmatic method that is applied to sport, transferred to other fields of social life, such as school and work, can make it possible to achieve any goal.
Special Olympics’ mission is to provide children and adults with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to train and compete in a variety of Olympic sports throughout the year. This allows them to develop and increase their physical well-being, to show courage, to experience the joy of participating in a climate of continuous exchange. Skills are brought into play, friendships are made with other Athletes, unique experiences are lived together with technicians, volunteers, family members and the whole community.
Inclusion through sport
Special Olympics’ mission also goes beyond sport and promotes a culture of respect and inclusion for the benefit of young people in particular but also of the entire community. The tool par excellence is the unified sport which involves Athletes with and without intellectual disabilities in mixed formations.
The goal of generating, through sport, a culture devoted to inclusion does not only involve those who, Athlete partners without disabilities, play on a unified field, but the entire community.
The mission of Special Olympics, to enhance intellectual disabilities in order to promote them as a resource for society, directs actions and strategies towards a constant commitment to increase the level of sensitivity of public opinion, laying the foundations for overcoming prejudices . The community can become more sensitive to welcoming diversity, in its multiple expressions, recognizing it as a resource.
Special Olympics, has the ambitious goal of shifting attention to what athletes CAN do and not what they cannot do. The focus on disability vanishes as admiration for the athletes’ talents and abilities grows.
50 years of history and the beauty that is yet to come
The Special Olympics mission remains as vital today as it was when the Movement was founded in 1968. Special Olympics is committed to creating a better world, by encouraging and promoting the acceptance and inclusion of people, enhancing the potential of everyone.
In the world there are about 200 million people with intellectual disabilities, about 1 million and 300 thousand in Italy alone. Our goal is to reach each of them – and their families.
Special Olympics organizes a large number of activities throughout the year: events, training, sports competitions and fundraising initiatives, training courses and screening.
At the same time we create opportunities for families, community members, businesses, institutions, celebrities to come together for one goal: to change attitudes and support Athletes.