Special Olympics team off to Berlin
Samoa's Special Olympics team is travelling to the Berlin 2023 Special Olympics Summer World Games and is eyeing gold in athletics, volleyball, and the Italian bowling game of Bocce.
This event brings together about 7,000 athletes from close to 170 Special Olympics programs around the world to display courage, joy and enthusiasm through the power of sports.
Accompanying Samoa's athletes will be four coaches recruited from the country's Youth Engagement and Family Networking Programs. These volunteer coaches have successfully participated in coach training courses run in a partnership between Special Olympics Samoa and sporting organisations.
The head of the delegation Justina Nuluvali said that the Special Olympics is a movement where sport is used as a tool to include all abilities.
"It is always an opportunity for our athletes to showcase their abilities in the field of sports, our coaches to showcase their abilities to train, to care and to love regardless," said Nu'yvali. The travelling squad is as follows:
Athletics
- Faautauta Puka
Bocce
- Saw Atilua
Volleyball
- Adele Atonio Silia
- Sione Tufuga Aiga
- Lelefu Savaliga
- Ioane Mena
- Sivai Tausaga Fou
- Misteiveli Siaganoa
- Pita Alefosio Maria
- Faalilio Fusi