The Power of Unified comes to Tira
Tira is a small town that sits twenty minutes outside of the city of Tel Aviv. On the morning of 21 November, bakeries sprung to life before the morning sun appeared, local masons began to craft their art along the roads leading into the town, and local businesses opened their doors to the public. It was Tuesday. On the surface, nothing was out of the ordinary in Tira.
Yet, something extraordinary was about to happen.
Behind the hustle and bustle of a weekday morning, Tira was about to showcase one of the most powerful social innovations taking root in communities all over the world. While it may be a small town boasting of 25,000 citizens, it also serves as the epicenter of a pioneering effort to transform Israel.
The protagonists- the students of the local schools of El Chanan and Elgazali.
The setting - Tira’s city football pitch.
The vision: redefining social inclusion through sport.
“We should do this all the time”, yelled one of the mainstream students from Elgazali to his peer at El Chanan. “The pitch is right next door! See you later this week.” Representing perhaps the most inclusive generation in history, the students demonstrated a unique fluidity, poise, and comfort with a social dynamic often shrouded in fear, misunderstanding and intrigue. Students with and without intellectual disabilities training together. One team. One pitch. Unified.
It was the most local of football training sessions, with the most national of ramifications. Through Unified Sports programming, youth of all abilities line up on the same pitch, on the same teams to train, compete, share and create. The focus on schools, indeed Unified Schools, ensures that there is not only a structure but also a way in which this inclusive sports work can feed into the larger mandate to bring inclusive education to the nation.
While the students of El Chanan and Elgazali were impressed with the football training, so too was Reuven Rivlin, President of the State of Israel. Speaking at the Special Olympics Israel launch event, held at the private residence of the President in downtown Jerusalem, President Rivlin made clear the importance and urgency of the work of Special Olympics Israel and the contribution it makes to nation. “The importance of the work of Special Olympics Israel cannot be overstated, and through the leadership demonstrated here today, the example these athletes set every day, the future of our society and our nation just got much brighter.”
The launch event in Jerusalem was also attended by key members of Knesset, industry and business, civil society, and sports. Arik Ze’evi, the most decorated Olympic Judo athlete in Israeli history, not only attended the event but opened proceedings with a demonstration Judo match with Special Olympics Israel athlete Levav Barkan. After a few quick sessions of Judo excellence, they were joined on stage by President Rivlin who declared Levav the winner. As Levav’s hand was raised, Arik Ze’evi beamed with happiness. It brought to life the heralded words of the founder of Special Olympics, the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, when she invited the world to experience life through the athletes of Special Olympics:
“Come to our world, where there are victories without victims.”
The Chairperson of Special Olympics, Dr. Shai Piron, spoke of the urgency of bringing the mission of Special Olympics to the nation. As a former national Minister of Education, Dr. Piron sees schools not only as places of learning, but also of revelation. “Through the creation of continuity of playing Unified, the youth of today, youth of all abilities, can teach us many things. Schools are the incubators of new ways of thinking, of understanding. The athletes are our guides. Let us harness this opportunity given to us today.”
After the football training session was over, the students of El Chanan and Elgazali returned to their respective schools, to resume their studies. But something had changed.
They were now Unified through the simple yet profound power of sports to bridge the divide, to conquer misunderstandings, and to reveal the connectivity they shared.
Special Olympics Unified Sports is the social innovation taking Israel, and the world, by storm. It is an invitation from people with intellectual disabilities to give the wider community a chance to see ability, to witness greatness, and to fully understand what determination and grit really mean.
Special Olympics Israel, through the example set in Tira, is committed to bringing the transformative power of the Special Olympics movement to every corner of the country.
How will they do it? With the students of El Chanan and Elgazali as their guide.
Unified.
