Panjim: Forca Goa Foundation and SO Bharat today signed an agreement to strengthen and enrich football experience for the special athletes which will initiate regular football training by the Forca Goa coaches across 20 special schools with immediate effect.
National Sports Director, SO Bharat Victor R Vaz addressing the press said that the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Forca Goa Foundation was a historic moment as it will be easy for SO Bharat Goa to create an awareness programme in the State as we have no financial support. “The agreement with Forca Goa Foundation gives Special Olympics in Goa ample opportunity to provide superior quality of football training to the athletes, reaching out to yet another genre of football experts to contribute effectively in the Inclusion Revolution on the occasion of completing 50 years of the movement”, added Vaz.
Vaz also thanked Forca Goa Foundation for signing the MoU with no financial cost.
A three-day coaches’ training and an Unified Futsal Tournament which began today at the Don Bosco Oratory Conference Hall, Panjim saw SO Bharat coaches sensitised 20 Forca Goa Foundation coaches to the Special Olympics programme as well as worked with athletes with intellectual disabilities, enabling the coaches to engage effectively with SO Bharat. Twenty athletes also joined the coaches later in the day to help them apply the training on ground.
Forca Goa Foundation CEO Gill Furgusen said, “It all started in April when there was a special camp for athletes going to Chicago for a tournament and that they were interested in support of coaches under the FC Goa banner to help and make them ready for the same. It was a last minute call but anything that helps inspire good athletes and helps built football is something that Forca Goa wants to be align with”.
“Our coaches who helped this team had an amazing experience that the foundation wanted to do more for the athletes. And that is the time we decided to do long term partnership with the Special Olympics athletes”, she added.
“This is a historic moment for both of us because helping community across Goa for The Beautiful Game and learning from the game is our main motto as we believe that football teaches people on both on the field and off the field”, she concluded.