On Sunday, the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism hosted the inclusive sports festival "Leader First", organized with the support of Coca-Cola, jointly by the Department of Adaptive Physical Culture and Life Safety and the Republican Branch of the Special Olympics of Russia.
Out of about 80 participants of the event, half are children with intellectual disabilities. The festival program includes competitions with the participation of "special athletes" and their healthy unified partners. Eight teams took part in the women's unified floorball tournament.
Unified floorball, according to the head of the Department of AFC and BJ, Chairman of the Republican Branch of the Special Olympics of Russia Larisa Parfenova, is a sport that is actively developing in Tatarstan by the staff of the department.
Relay races and sports games became the next type of the festival program, and then the organizers offered the participants of the festival to go along a given route within the framework of inclusive orienteering competitions.
- Students of the department took an active part in the organization and holding of the event. Including first-year students, whom we try to immerse in real working conditions from the very beginning of their studies," says Larisa Parfenova.
It is important, according to Larisa Anatolyevna, that yesterday's "special athletes" were among the organizers of the holiday: five volunteers - adult children with Down syndrome helped students and staff of the department to hold competitions. On an already emotional day for special athletes and their parents, a group of cheerleaders formed from students of the AFC department, organized and led by teacher Maya Ageeva, added colors. The students not only filled the breaks with dance and music pauses, but also acted as unified partners themselves.
And of course, there were gifts provided by the Directorate of Sports and Social Projects - a partner of the Republican Branch of the Special Olympics of Russia - and the Coca-Cola company - as part of the implementation of the Unified Leadership grant.
The honored guest of the event was Honored Coach of Russia, coordinator of the federal project "Children's Sports" Olga Pavlova, who addressed the participants with the following words:
- Anything impossible is possible. Sport really has no boundaries. All children with different health development characteristics should play sports. And we create all the opportunities for them.
