An athlete getting his eye checked at a Sohap in October this year.
MIRI: You’ve probably heard a lot about the Special Olympics – a global movement that gives people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to be involved in sports, putting their physical capability and team spirit to the test.
The outstanding performances of the athletes of Special Olympics Miri Chapter, both locally and in overseas, during the competitions and, even more impressively, the medals they’ve managed to win in different fields of sports against other competitors despite their disabilities are beyond what
words could describe.
Having said this, it goes to show that the chapter’s continuous effort over the years in persistently encouraging the children with intellectual disabilities have nurtured their talents in the sports.
“It is true that they are having a lot of fun through their involvement in sports, but more importantly, it is one of the great ways to help them feel accepted while building up their self-esteem and confidence through sports training,” Liza Chai, the chapter’s chairwoman, told The Borneo Post.
Special Olympics and training
While many would have thought that Special Olympics Miri Chapter was under the flagship of Miri PDK Sunflower Centre, it is worth to mention the history of Special Olympics (SO) that had significantly touched the lives of many of those intellectually disabled.
Special Olympics, a non-profit international programme of sports training and athletic competition, was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver for people with intellectual disabilities.
As for Special Olympics Miri Chapter (SOMC), it was formed in August 1999 and to date it has over 250 athletes including active and non-active members from over 19 schools and community-based rehabilitation centres in and around Miri.
To name a few, they are Miri PDK Sunflower Centre, PDK Pibakis Miri, National Autistic Society of Malaysia (Nasom) Miri branch, PDK Morsjaya, Miri Autistic Association (PAM), SK Anchi, SK Bintang, SK South, SMK St Joseph and SMK Luak.
Danish Zaffry Rosli of SMK Luak, Miri finished first at the Special Olympics Winter Games in Vienna. He brought glory to the nation with two silver medals in snow shoeing (100m and 200m) and one bronze in 4x100m relay mixed group.
Sharing the bitter sweet stories from the experiences endured by the athletes, teachers and parents, Liza Chai said that any victorious achievement by these athletes is actually due to the persistent effort by everyone involved; therefore, no one is to be left out from the credit.
“Training sessions for these athletes are year-round agenda in football, bocce, bowling, floorball, cycling, badminton, basketball, floor hockey and snowshoeing. Of course, it is impossible to decide who to focus in which sports, therefore, in the beginning of the training (for new athletes), they will try their hands on, under the guidance of our coach and teacher, almost all the sports.
“Support from parents is of course, very, very important to us, because they are the ones giving the nod in letting their child to train for the sports,” said Chai.
And keeping them on their feet during training and encouraging them to persist is very challenging, added Chai.
“The teachers have been very dedicated to help these athletes, thus their contribution is very much appreciated,” she said.
A brief walk down their hall of achievements shows the athletes representing SO Miri Chapter and the country have made their name known internationally several times.
It includes World Summer Games in Ireland (UK) in 2003 – bowling with one gold and two silver; Taiwan in 2004 – Bocce with two gold; Shanghai (China) in 2007 – bowling and bocce with three gold; Macau in 2014 – Track and Field with four gold and one silver; Los Angeles (USA) in 2015 – swimming with one gold and one silver and Austria in 2017 – show-shoeing with one gold.
The athletes usually start with local games and slowly move to bigger meets like state and national games to put their ability and talent to test.
“For those who are able to understand instructions and to remain disciplined will then have the chance to compete in overseas.
“It is of utmost importance that the athletes remain controlled and disciplined because they will be meeting different people and possibly socialise with athletes from other countries,” said Chai, adding that athletes who have participated in Special Olympic games at international level will focus in other sports training or possibly become coach to other younger athletes so that similar opportunity could be offered to future potential athletes.
Other significant achievements by athletes of SOMC are their determination that saw them conquer Mount Kinabalu on five different occasions in 1999, 2002 2008, 2011 and 2014.
Chai also said that since the formation of SOMC in 1999, all the centres and schools have competed in state, national and international competitions with excellent achievements.
Athletes applaud as they finished the World Summer Games in Ireland (UK) in 2003 in bowling games with one gold and two silver medals.
Special Olympics Healthy Athlete Programme
The programme that is known in short as Sohap provides free health examinations in fun environment for people with intellectual disabilities by medical professionals.
It focuses on six disciplines; namely eye check-up (vision), ear check-up (hearing), oral check-up (dental health), health promotion (nutrition and health education), fun fitness (flexibility and balance) and fit feet (foot health).
According to official statistics obtained from Special Olympics official website www.specialolympics.org, health examinations are especially important as these athletes are at increased risk of secondary health issues whereby about 37 per cent of people with intellectual disabilities are at risk of having untreated tooth decay; 16 per cent are at risk of eye disease, 23 per cent with low bone density; 26 per cent face the risk of hearing problem and 48 percent of them would have at least one kind of skin or nail condition.
“The healthy athlete programme does not only make it compulsory to keep the athlete’s health on par with the standard, it is also an opportunity to educate them and their family members on the importance of staying healthy.”
Sharing her concern on the lack of financial funding, Chai said it wasn’t easy to organise Sohap programmes.
“We lack helping hands to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Therefore, we organise the programme in smaller scale with sources we have at hand. Thankfully, the past events were organised successfully due to the sponsorship and collaboration we’ve received from different organisations which are most appreciated,” she said.
Impacts to athletes
To some, if not all, the impact of participating in sports could be very encouraging, says Liza Chai.
“They could have faced a lot of challenges to be on their feet during training, but the fruit they bore after that is unforgettable.”
“It is especially significant because the athletes get better in socialising with people and are able to mix with different people.
“Some of them noticeably had improved in terms of their confidence. I am so proud of them,” she said.
Involvement in sports, she added, could be very rewarding because it could also enable them to feel accepted by society and best if they have developed the confidence to independently take on a job they could manage in future without much trouble.
An athlete having fun with games while monitored by volunteers.