by Mohamed El Shahat, Sports Editor, Al Akhbar Newspaper
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Nahida Lamia, Special Olympics Algeria coach. [Photos by Khaled El Fiqi] |
All eyes were on Amaria Hamdan and Nahida Lamia. And although these two women may have felt the heat of the spotlight for making history in Special Olympics Algeria, they prevailed. Their glorious debut as the first women to coach Special Olympics athletes was a challenge with a silver lining.
When Hamdan and Lamia stepped onto the football pitch with their Special Olympics Unified Sports® team, they were ready to compete. The team took on the home team of Tunisia and Egypt, winning the silver medal.
Neither had been involved in Special Olympics prior to coaching their team, but once they were recruited and trained, they completely devoted themselves to preparing their Unified football (soccer) team to compete in what was then the biggest Special Olympics event ever to be held in the region: the 4th Middle East/North Africa Regional Games in Tunis, Tunisia from 4-7 September 2004.
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