B.LEAGUE Hope and Special Olympics Nippon (hereinafter referred to as SON) have been working together since 2018 with the aim of realizing a society where people with and without disabilities can coexist without discrimination. At the “Nippon Life B.LEAGUE FINALS 2023-24” held on May 26, 2024, we welcomed SO athletes (people with intellectual disabilities) from Kyoto and Okinawa, and active professional basketball players Ryo Tadawatari (affiliated with the Fukushima Firebonds) and Atsuya Ota (affiliated with the San-en NeoPhoenix) from B.LEAGUE as guest players, and held a Unified Sports®︎ (※) basketball game for the first time in five seasons.
(※) Unified Sports® is a program in which people with intellectual disabilities (SO athletes) and people without intellectual disabilities (partners) form mixed teams, practice and play games, and build relationships in which they understand and support each other’s individuality through sports. The key word for this initiative is “with U,” not “for U” for people with disabilities.
Show off the results of your daily practice on the stage of your dreams!
“Challenge with ALL (※)”, which started in 2022, has expanded to eight clubs and six prefectures as of June 2024, and various activities are being carried out in each region. Among them, Kyoto and Okinawa are areas that have been aiming to improve their competitive ability through basketball clinics and sports classes by clubs, and this time SO athletes from these two areas participated in a red-white game.
Additionally, active players Ryo Tadawatari and Atsuya Ota participated and formed a special team. Before the match, each B.LEAGUE player became a member of their team and shared self-introductions, their favorite plays, and their goals for the day. Ota encouraged the SO athletes, saying things like, “Let’s aim for the shot, not the pass!” and “Let’s have fun!”
(※) Challenge with ALL is a project in which B.LEAGUE clubs and SON regional organizations work together to promote activities rooted in the local community, with the aim of realizing a symbiotic society throughout the country. (For more information, click here.)
Team Black (Kyoto) features Tadashi (right)
Team White (Okinawa) has player Ota (right)
SON Kyoto athletes warming up
SON, an Okinawan athlete, warming up
TEAM BLACK (Kyoto) huddles before the match
TEAM WHITE (Okinawa) huddle before the game
We also welcomed SON Dream Supporter Takuma Watanabe as a guest, who spoke about the activities he has participated in. In addition, B.LEAGUE Chairman Shinji Shimada and SON Chairman Hiroaki Hiraoka also took to the stage to talk about the background of this activity ahead of the upcoming match.
SON Dream supporter Takuma Watanabe (left)
Chairman Shinji Shimada (left) and President Hiroaki Hiraoka (right)
A time when everyone, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, could shine
[ThematchstartedwithajumpballbetweenTEAMBLACK(Kyoto)SOathletesandTEAMWHITE(Okinawa)playerOta
TEAM BLACK (Kyoto) led the game aggressively on both offense and defense, but TEAM WHITE (Okinawa) kept passing the ball and scored points in an attempt to score at least one shot.
Although the game ended in a 20-4 victory for TEAM BLACK (Kyoto), the various plays of the SO athletes shone brightly on the courts of Yokohama Arena, such as the smiles on their faces when they made a shot and their earnest expressions as they chased after a loose ball.
Jump ball between SO athletes and Ota
All 16 SO athletes took to the court.
An athlete from TEAM WHITE (Okinawa) aiming for a shot
TEAM BLACK (Kyoto) scored points with quick attacks.
An athlete from TEAM BLACK (Kyoto) takes a shot
Ota led the team on both offense and defense.
Tado (right) high-fiving after the match
Ota (center) high-fiving after the match
Sharing various emotions and thoughts such as “It’s fun” and “It’s the best!” through basketball
After the match, SON Okinawa athlete Hadama commented, “Today’s match was a lot of fun. There were many things I couldn’t do, but I want to practice more with everyone and get better. It was great to be able to play a basketball game on such a dreamy court today.”
Tadawatari Ryo also commented, “Rather than just participating, I felt like we were having fun together, and it reminded me that in basketball there are things you can communicate without speaking. I also really felt the SO athletes’ love for basketball.”
SON Okinawa Athlete (Hatama-san)
At the end, we all took a commemorative photo
We hope that this activity will serve as an opportunity to increase understanding of the work of Special Olympics Nippon, as well as unified sports and an inclusive society, and we will continue to work to further collaborate between B.LEAGUE clubs and SON district organizations.
2024-07-05 02:06:55
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