Serbia

June was a very exciting month for Special Olympics Russia which launched the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) ‘Play Unified. Learn Unified.’ project in not one, but five cities across the country!

As the first anniversary of Special Olympics’ milestone partnership with Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) draws closer, our teams travelled together to Serbia to explore the impact of the collaboration in schools across the country.

Eleven teams comprising 110 athletes descended on Serbia for the Special Olympics European Unified Volleyball Tournament.

Serbian Special Olympics athlete Saska Vuijicic flew to Los Angeles for the NBA Cares All-Star Weekend! Read about her adventure.

The Special Olympics Serbia athlete has been a star of her local basketball team ever since she first stepped on the basketball court.

In Cacak, Serbia the inclusive youth activation committee (YAC) invited hometown heroes who had won the recent Special Olympics European Unified Volleyball tournament in Poland to participate in a come-and-try Unified Volleyball session at a local sports hall. “We thought that the experienced Unified players could inspire current and new Unified Volleyball players to join Special Olympics,” said Nikola Jovicic, (19) one of the four YAC members. “On the volleyball court playing together as equals is where we learn to respect each other," he said. Approximately 50 youth from the local special and mainstream school took part in the event. The YAC, comprised of four youth with and without intellectual disabilities, is one of 10 established in 10 cities in Serbia in a two-year USAID-supported project that aims to foster understanding and inclusion among youth. Using inclusive sports as a platform, youth are given opportunities to learn about and participate in leadership and advocacy.