Marcos Senna, Enric Blesa and Silvia Gómez presented the VI Unified Football Championships
At midday today in the Press Room at the Villarreal CF Training Ground (Ciudad Deportiva) the presentation of the VI Unified Football Special Olympics Championships (VI Campeonato de Fútbol Unificado Special Olympics) took place. The tournament will be played on 3rd, 4th and 5th June at the Miralcamp facilities for the second consecutive year.
Marcos Senna, member of the Villarreal CF Institutional Relations Department, commented on how he felt about participating in the tournament ‘Jugamos Todos’ (‘We All Play’) with EDI (Escuela de Discapacitados Intelectuales – Schools for the Intellectually Disabled) teams at the Ciutat de València stadium: “This weekend I had the chance to play with the Villarreal EDI team and it was spectacular. We have to keep encouraging others to participate. I hadn’t experienced this world of football first hand and it has helped me a lot because I have children. I have learnt a lot. They have an opportunity to be even happier and we will be there to support them. I can testify that the Special Olympics is an unforgettable experience”.
Enric Blesa: “The purpose is inclusion and our intention is to grow”
For his part, Enric Blesa, General Director of the Special Olympics, explained the objective of and everything that surrounds this tournament: “The purpose is inclusion. Our intention is to grow, with almost 300 players and 50 coaches. We have more than 500 participants and then we have to add to that the people who will come to watch. So around 1,000 people”.
Silvia Gómez: “Last year I was touched by and really saw the importance of this tournament”
Lastly, Silvia Gómez, the Councillor of Sports and Culture in Vila-real, was also present at the event and gave her point of view on the tournament: “From the City Council we always encourage activities like this because we believe they are very important. Last year I was really moved and I realized how important it is for us to support this tournament. What’s more, Villarreal CF are never far away from supporting these solidarity iniciatives and we are very grateful for this”.
