Playing on a team means everything to Special Olympics Lithuania player
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Special Olympics Lithuania basketball player Denisas Sumenkovas. Photographer: Martha Jo Braycich, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia |
Special Olympics Lithuania athlete Denisas Sumenkovas, 19, has been playing basketball for seven years. He grew up in an internat (boarding school) but now lives alone in Klaipeda, a northern Baltic seaport. Sumenkovas is learning skills that will enable him to work in the local shipyard. He plays on a team at the shipyard as well as on a Special Olympics team at the internat. “I prefer playing on the Special Olympics team because we are nicer to each other. My teammates from the shipyard can be too aggressive,” Sumenkovas said. The young Lithuanian who plays center, said his friends look at him when he scores points, which he does often, and that gives him a sense of achievement. But there is no egoism behind the remark. “I could not achieve anything alone. I need my team. They are the best,” he said. Sigita Kruminiene, the team doctor, said that Sumenkovas is a nice, quiet guy who struggles living on his own. But within the security of a friendly tournament setting like the one created in Belgrade, she said he is able to learn to enjoy his independence.
Russian referee calls on other officials to help make Special Olympics players “part of our world”
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(left-right) Special Olympics basketball coordinator Alexey Barsukov and team captain Fedor Chukhlay. Photographer: Martha Jo Braycich, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia |
Alexey Barsukov is a busy man. Only 20, Barsukov, from Saratov, a major city on the Volga River in Russia, officiates Pision B games of the Super League. He works at the Russian Basketball Federation. He is a student at Saratov State Technical University. Last, but not least, he is the Special Olympics Russia basketball coordinator. Barsukov got involved in Special Olympics three years ago when he refereed at a Special Olympics national event in Saratov. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I got on the court and saw the Special Olympics players I knew immediately that I wanted to help them. They really live the game and they feel good when they play. This makes me happy,” he said. “It is important that Special Olympics attracts other qualified referees and we work together to ensure that players with intellectual disabilities are part of our world,” he said. Both Barsukov and Special Olympics team captain Fedor Chukhlay, 19, share a love of the sport, which they describe as a “thing of beauty and a way of thinking.” Chukhlay has been playing on the St. Petersburg Special Olympics team for 15 years. He is one of two brothers on the team, who live with their family, including seven other siblings.
Special Olympics Turkey player loves basketball but yearns for a home life
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Special Olympics Turkey basketball coach and coordinator Ufuk Senkutlu and Special Olympics player Yucel Arikazan. Photographer: Martha Jo Braycich, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia |
Special Olympics Turkey athlete Yucel Arikazan has been playing basketball for more than six years. Arikazan, 23, a quiet man with a shy smile, lives in a group home in the Turkish capital of Ankara, the only player on the team who lives in a state-run facility. His parents died in a car accident when he was an infant and he was raised in institutions.
“Yucel is a loner and being part of a basketball team gives him a sense of belonging,” said Ufuk Senkutlu, head coach and basketball coordinator for Special Olympics Turkey. The Belgrade tournament is an excellent experience, said both men, because it gives players a chance to meet people from different countries and it drives home the message that participating is far more important than winning.
Arikazan trains two to three times a week and plays forward. He would love to meet famous Turkish players. But, more than that, he said he dreams of finding a job, getting married and having a home life. |
