Carl Brown supports Special Olympics football
Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) will continue preparation for the 2015 World Summer Games in Los Angeles, United States with the sixth staging of its annual football competition at the University of Technology (UTech) field today.
Former Jamaica senior men’s football coach Carl Brown will be the guest speaker at the launch, also to be held at the venue.
Jamaican athletes from the 14 parishes will showcase their skills and make cases for selection to the squad for the Summer Games. A contingent from the Cayman Islands, consisting of head coach Dwayne Ebanks, arrived in Jamaica yesterday to also take part in the competition.
The feature game will see Scotiabank business house side facing a Special Olympics Jamaica unified team at 2:30 pm.
SOJ executive director Lorna Bell said the support of Brown is a huge boost for both countries.
“It is so heartwarming to have coach Brown in our midst and this goes to show just how sport brings us all together. This movement is all about inclusion and I have no doubt that coach Brown will assist us with the preparation of our football team to the 2015 Games which will be held in Los Angeles,” she told the Jamaica Observer.
Bell said that Brown will also declare the opening of today’s competition and added that former national standout Ali McNab will be patron of the event.
Hi-Lyte Sports drink will provide refreshments.
Special Olympics Jamaica will be partnering with Scotiabank to send a unified football team to the World Games as well as an all-female side to compete in futsal. Both these events will be a first for Jamaica.
Earlier this year, Jamaica enjoyed huge success at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea.
The small island won silver medals in two ice figure-skating categories to go with their second-place finish in floor hockey at the eight-day Championship.
Special Olympics fosters inclusion and aims to provide year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The disabilities can either be acquired or genetic and can include cases of Down’s Syndrome, autism, traumatic brain injury and cerebral palsy.