A total of 12 teams will battle it out for the crown in the Unified Sports tournament this weekend at KMTC grounds in Wote, Makueni County.
The event has attracted 132 athletes (72 with intellectual disabilities, 60 unified partners, and 24 coaches).
Unified sport is an inclusive sports program that combines an approximately equal number of athletes (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and partners (individuals without intellectual disabilities) on the same team for training and competition.
Makueni County will host a Special Olympics female seven-a-side football competition this weekend at the KMTC grounds in Wote.
During the matches, each team will have four players and three partners on the field. The team will also boost two players and two partners on the substitutes' bench.
The participating teams were selected from the top two teams in the six sub-counties, with one team consisting of participants aged 12-17 and the other team aged 18 and above.
This initiative, a collaboration between the Mukueni County government, Special Olympics and Nike seeks to support individuals with disabilities in the community and promote female participation in sports.
The partnership was agreed upon in Berlin, Germany during the 2023 Special Olympic Games, where Makueni largely represented the country and won a huge number of medals.
Special Olympics' sports manager, Vincent Mungai, said the event is meant to promote female participation in sports.
“The reason we came up with this is because worldwide, women have been left behind in sports, especially the ones with intellectual disabilities. So we are here to promote inclusivity of women and reduce stigma within the communities,” Mungai said.
Mungai further noted that the success of the event would inform the uptake and roll-out of the unified sports disciplines to the rest of the country.
The program, which began in October 2023, trained 240 football coaches and referees (171 males and 69 females) from all county wards.
This was followed by the recruitment of athletes and partners for an 8-week training program, forming unified teams of six athletes with intellectual disabilities and five unified partners.
The final phase involved unified football competitions at the ward, sub-county, and now county levels, fostering a sense of community and inclusivity.
