This one is for athletes with intellectual disabilities, writes Abeer Anwar The Special Olympics Middle East/North Africa (MENA) regional Games begin in Tunisia on Saturday under the patronage of President Zein Al-Abidine Bin Ali. During the four-day event, 600 athletes with intellectual disabilities will compete in six sports. The participating countries are Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Yemen, Iran, Kuwait, Algeria and Mauritania. "It is a great success to be able to attract 600 athletes to these Games," Ayman Abdel-Wahab, Special Olympics MENA region managing director, said. "It is also a push for the Games to be held under the auspices of President Zein Al- Abidine Bin Ali. This reflects that the Special Olympics movement is gaining pace and momentum in our region and we will be able to meet our five-year plan goal of 110,000 athletes by the end of 2005." Abdel-Wahab said the MENA number of athletes had jumped to 50,000 making the region one of the best in the world. "The participation of Special Olympics Iraq with a full delegation is also a miracle due to the political situation there," Abdel-Wahab added. "In spite of this, the Iraqi athletes were eager to take part in the Games and we subsidised them to make their dream come true." Up one sport from the Games in Lebanon 2002, this year's Games are football, aquatics, athletics, table tennis, basketball and floor hockey. The Games' technical committee decided to add floor hockey, although it is a winter sport, to give an opportunity for all to compete in it before the Special Olympics Winter Games start in Nagano, Japan from 26 February to 5 March 2005. A number of training courses were held prior to the Games to acquaint MENA athletes and coaches with the rules of floor hockey. In athletics, 121 athletes from Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran will race in the 100ms, 400ms and 800ms sprint, shot-put, long jump and 4x50ms relay. Monazah National Stadium will host the event. In women's basketball, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt will compete at Monazah indoor halls. In floor hockey there are 62 athletes representing Tunisia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Yemen. In futsal, or five-a-side football, it is a unified event where able-bodied athletes together with intellectually disabled players form a team. Ninety-two athletes representing Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Iran will battle it out at Monazah secondary courts. Forty-seven athletes from Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will challenge each other in swimming at the 7 November Aquatics Centre at Rades. The events include 25ms, 50ms and 100ms freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and breast. Table tennis single and double events will attract 38 athletes from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen and Kuwait. The events will take place at the Monazah sports complex. The Special Olympics mission is to provide year-round training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage and experience the joys of life. As Special Olympics are committed to empowering people with intellectual disabilities on the playing field, it is also committed off the field. For the first time, four events will take place to be held concurrently with the Games: the Youth Summit, Athlete Leadership Programmes Congress, Families Forum and the Healthy Athletes Programme. The Athletes Leadership Programme (ALP's) offer athletes the opportunity to take active leadership roles both on and off the playing field through self-directed, meaningful participation in virtually any aspect such as serving on boards of directors, officiating competitions and coaching other athletes. The Family Leadership and Support Forum offers families not just opportunities for sports, social interaction and fun, but also a much-needed support system. This is the first Family Forum to be held in the MENA region. "We decided to hold such a forum to give an opportunity to the athlete family, which is the main tool in athletic success, to come and join," Abdel-Wahab said. "They will have the chance to discuss their problems and share ideas and experiences. They have done a lot for their children and it's the right time to listen to them and help them as well." The Schools and Youth Summit initiative encourages school-age youth to celebrate differences and break down barriers. Its efforts allow young people to discover the pathway toward building a more welcoming society for all. The Healthy Athletes Programme is to improve the athlete's ability to train and compete in Special Olympics. The Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Initiative includes several disciplines: Fit Feet, FUNfitness, Health Promotion, Healthy Hearing, Opening Eyes and Special Smiles. "The MENA Games is the first to witness the application of Healthy Hearing, Opening Eyes and Special Smiles," Heba Said, SO MENA initiatives manager, said. "This is to give each participating athlete the opportunity to benefit from maximum health care. We have participants from all the MENA regions in our four events and this is considered highly success." Said added that all doctors taking part are volunteers. Special Olympics currently serves more than one million people with intellectual disabilities in more than 150 countries. It made a bold commitment to reach two million athletes by the end of 2005, placing a renewed focus on building the movement's infrastructure and establishing tools to facilitate growth. An initial census of athlete participation conducted in that year established a baseline count of athletes worldwide.
