Mangaluru :

Special Olympics Bharat, National Sports Federation and Union ministry of youth affairs and sports accredited Special Olympics Bharat – Karnataka, a sports event for people with intellectual disability.

To celebrate the landmark achievement, officials of Karnataka State Association for Special Educators and Supportive Staff, Bengaluru said they are organizing a felicitation programme at the Town Hall here on Monday.

Vasanth Kumar Shetty, secretary of the association, said special olympics programme brings the joy of sports to people with intellectual disability by providing life transforming experiences for athletes, coaches and volunteers. Special Olympics Bharat, which offers 25 different sports, has its presence in 36 states and union territories in India. It serves 679 districts and has 12,43,246 registered athletes. In Karnataka, it has 67,662 registered athletes.

Vasanth Kumar, who is also the administrator of Saanidhya Residential School and Training Centre, Mangaluru, was the area director of Special Olympics Bharat from 2001 to 2006. He is named the area director again this year.

The event is being conducted at eight regions in Karnataka. The event will have district-, region- and state-level sports. The programme envisages training special educators in different sports and make them certified coaches. “Our aim is to bring out the hidden talents of the intellectually disabled persons and bring them to the main stream of the society,” Vasanth Kumar added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangalore / by Jaideep Shenoy / TNN / March 25th, 2016