The FIBA Foundation and Special Olympics International are partnering up to uplift a community of individuals through basketball.
The world of professional sports may celebrate the best of the best athletes in the world, but sports as a whole celebrates skill and ability in their purest forms, no matter where these come from. This is something that both the FIBA Foundation and Special Olympics International — two awe-inspiring organizations — believe in.
The FIBA Foundation is the social arm of the sport’s governing body and supports various social causes around the world through basketball. On the other hand, Special Olympics International is the world’s largest sports organization that supports children and adults with intellectual disabilities through training activities for Olympic-type sports.
Both these organizations cross over in the causes they support. With this, they have teamed up to continue their efforts in promoting basketball as a tool for social development.
On September 9, 2023, at the Basketball For Good Charity Gala and Auction, the FIBA Foundation and Special Olympics International signed a new two-year Memorandum of Understanding with the goal of fostering more inclusive environments for individuals with intellectual disabilities to participate in sports.
“We are happy to continue to grow the FIBA and Basketball For Good Family through this partnership,” FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis shared during the Gala night in Manila Peninsula. “Inclusiveness is a big part of the FIBA Foundation’s present and future activities, and by joining our efforts with Special Olympics, we are making basketball more accessible to all globally.”
The representatives of the two organizations celebrated their partnership, looking forward to the positive impact their collaborative efforts will bring to many individuals around the world, and there was, perhaps, no better place to celebrate this union than in the Philippines.
The Philippines is well-known for being a “basketball mecca” of sorts. Many Filipinos play basketball, whether it’s just for fun or for serious competition, with courts found in almost every corner of the country. Accessibility to the sport goes far and wide here in the Philippines, and basketball has been something that has been able to unite the people in the country, from all walks of life. In essence, this is what the FIBA Foundation and Special Olympics International hope to extend to others around the world.
“Basketball is a truly global and powerful force for social impact,” Special Olympics’ Chief of Sport and Competition Lou Lauria shared. “The FIBA Foundation harnesses this power and puts sport at the service of humanity by creating inclusive communities, providing access to education, and driving gender equity. It is these same tenets that drive the Special Olympics movement and create the bond that has built this partnership.”
The collaboration between these two organizations is sure to bring a positive impact on the world using the power of basketball, and we are excited to see how they push the sport forward.
Images from FIBA.
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