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The Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia Sports Conference was held 27-30 October 2005 in Tenero, Switzerland. The conference, hosted by Special Olympics Switzerland, was attended by 112 representatives from 35 countries. The conference included presentations on the expansion of Unified SportsŪ, coach recruitment and education, and athletes as assistant coaches. Plans for the Special Olympics European Games in Rome, Italy, in 2006 also were discussed and a new public service announcement (PSA) promoting the Youth Games was shown for the first time.
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Athletes and participants take part in a judo demonstration. (Photo by Nolwen Gassin, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia) |
Well-attended demonstrations were held in bocce and judo. Ten Special Olympics athletes from the Netherlands participated in the judo demonstration and were joined on the mat by conference participants. Judo was presented as a demonstration sport at the 2000 Special Olympics European Games in the Netherlands and at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland. At the beginning of 2005, the first regional judo tournament in the history of Special Olympics was held in Belgium. In total, approximately 1,000 athletes in 18 national Programs in the region are involved in judo.
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The Swiss Alps were a nice backdrop for the bocce demonstration. (Photo by Nolwen Gassin, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia) |
All conference participants took part in the bocce demonstration. Interest in bocce, a sport particularly suited for older athletes, has grown since the first bocce seminar in the region was held in 2004. In addition, 40 sets of bocce balls were distributed to national Programs, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe. Special Olympics Italy and Special Olympics Switzerland were instrumental in getting the bocce sets.
A GMS (Games Management System) training session, run by Reuben Silva, Manager, Games/Sports Technology for Special Olympics headquarters, was held with 20 participants, the largest training in the region.
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