Over the weekend, the third tournament took place for the players within the Special Olympics program.
Fourteen players in total from Moss Badmintonklubb, Karmøy Badmintonklubb and Ålesund Badmintonklubb were gathered to have a social weekend with the focus on playing badminton and having fun. Every player got a t-shirt and a goodie bag from our sponsors.
Friday started with some easy warmups and exercises for both frontcourt and backcourt. Each of the players got their exercises given to them depending on what they can do and the whole group was satisfied after the session. The last part of the day was a homemade dinner for everyone in the hall.
Saturday began again with some exercises that built on the day before. We added some new parts to the exercise, and everyone was able to take leaps forward from the day before. After a lunch break, we started with the tournament for all the Para players. We divided them into four groups, and they all got to play a lot of matches against each other. There was also time for some fun games and the whole group got more social as the day went by. Saturday was finished with dinner and a trophy presentation for everyone.
A new tradition
Sunday was the day for the Unified tournament. Every player was handed a person (parent, support contact or player from the local club) to play alongside them. This was also arranged with a focus on everyone getting the chance to play as much as possible. As the evening before, everyone was handed a named diploma that shows that they had participated at the tournament.
We are planning to arrange this again in 2021, where we hope to be joined by our friends from Sweden, Denmark and Finland. We see all the joy that these players have together, and we will do our best to turn this into a tradition!