During the Senate, a Ministerial Statement was delivered by the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, Owen K. Darrell.
“Madam President, on Saturday, June 17th, 2023 a 33-strong delegation will participate in the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, Germany. The Special Olympics World Games are the world's largest inclusive sports event. It is a global organization that serves athletes with intellectual disabilities working with hundreds of thousands of volunteers and coaches annually. Empowering athletes with intellectual disabilities to be their best and aiming to build a more civil society with inclusion and mutual respect is vital.
Madame President, since Special Olympics was founded in 1968, inclusion has been central to their mission and programs: fighting for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities through the power of sports. Sport Matters! Through this mandate, our Bermudian athletes have continuous opportunities to develop their physical fitness, demonstrate courage and experience the joy of active competition. Special Olympics Bermuda is a newly accredited program; still, in the brief time they have existed, they successfully qualified 14 athletes for the 2019 World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi. This Bermuda contingent finished strong, with 8 Medals; 3 Silver, and 5 Bronze, a very impressive collection of medals! I would like to congratulate Special Olympics Bermuda for their efforts locally in ensuring our athletes have the same opportunities as others worldwide.
Madame President, in preparation for this year’s games I have personally seen and encouraged the team training at our National Sports Centre over the past months. This bodes well for our athletes to have a facility and coaches to prepare adequately for the games. The Government is proud to support the Special Olympics Bermuda usage of the NSC and launch a Public Awareness campaign by putting posters in government ministries and the NSC so all who frequent these places can get to know our Special Olympians. Madame President, we also understand that additional support is required for Special Olympics Bermuda as the cost to travel with such a large contingent can be immense. With that, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation will award Special Olympic Bermuda $10,000.00 to assist with the funding required for the games.
Bermuda will have 19 athletes competing in 5 sporting events at the 2023 Games Madame President. This is our largest contingent of athletes competing at the World Games thus far.
Madame President, one of the most significant forms of support that can be given to our athletes is to have someone from home cheering them on in the crowd. That’s why, I and the Director of Sport, K. Charryse Bean will proudly join the procession with Team Bermuda in Berlin. We have answered the call from the team and will be two of the friendly face in the crowd in Berlin cheering and supporting our athletes. While in Berlin I have also been invited to participate in a high-level Inclusion Global Development Roundtable. This roundtable will be a gathering recognizing global leaders’ dedication to achieving equity for people with intellectual disabilities. I look forward to being a part of this momentous event. Sport Matters to us and our athletes deserve our support just like we did for the Cricket team.
Madame President, the games will take place June 17 – 25, 2023 and I encourage all of Bermuda to watch our athletes compete. I wish Karen Woolley - head of delegation, Kemda Bean - assistant head of delegation, Quinell Robinson – head coach, the coaching staff and most importantly the athletes well in their sporting endeavors. We will see you at the games.
Thank you Madam President.”
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