JCI Vizag to organise Special Olympics for specially-abled children

JCI Vizag is organising the 19th edition of Special Olympics (an annual sports meet) for specially-abled children at Police Barracks, Suryabagh, on 3 September 2023, from 9:00 am onwards. The event will witness children with hearing and visual impairments as well as physical and mental disabilities. Participants from the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam will take part in the one-day event.

Registration for all the participants is free and JCI volunteers will assist all the participants and their escorts. The 18th edition saw more than 300 specially-abled students from 20 schools/organisations who took part in various events like shot put, discus throw, javelin, running, relay race, and softball which were categorised into below 12 years, 12-20 years and above 21 years for both boys and girls.

In this edition of the Special Olympics by JCI Vizag, more than 450 children are expected to participate in a total of 60+ sporting events. The highlights of the event this year are the National Anthem recitation in sign language by hearing-impaired students, Navy March Past, Children Fashion Show, UNSDG formation by children and many more. Prakash Kochar, Founder of Special Olympics, said, “Although there has been a considerable rise in the number of participants in the event from the past 23 years, there is still a need to foster the talent of these special students. Awareness

of the importance of sports needs to be created among the trainers and teachers of these special children and they need to be motivated to take part in such activities.”

He also added, “The rolling shield in the name of my younger brother Prem Kochar who lost his life in an accident is also given every year to the school which has done well in all the categories of events.” Winners in all categories will be given medals and all the participants will be given certificates. People with disabilities, who have done well in the field of sports will be felicitated on the occasion.

President of JCI Vizag Jc B Prabhakar and Secretary Jc Srikavya said that the event will also witness a band salute and a cultural fest by the special students. The guests for the event are Sambasiva Rao, MD, Sravan Shipping Services Pvt. Ltd, MP MVV Satyanarayana, GVMC Commissioner Saikanth Varma IAS, Rana Uppalapati, Business Associate, Titan Company Ltd, Sribharat Mathukumili, President, GITAM University and Captain Raghuraman Chakravarthy, Regional Manager, INCS.

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