Special Olympics held in Thohoyandou

The Special Olympics ambassador in Vhembe, Rofhiwa Manwadu, staged his seventh ‘Rofhiwa Manwadu’ Special Olympics games in Thohoyandou last Saturday.

The floor hockey games were played at the Thohoyandou Indoor Sports Centre, while unified soccer and futsal were played at Thohoyandou Stadium. Bochee, which was also supposed to be played at the stadium, was not played because of limited time.

Eleven schools, Grace & Love, Tshilwavhusiku, Risongoneta, Nesengani, Hayani Hospital, Maranatha/Nsobo, Pfuxanani, Amukelo, Road House, Unarine and Musekwa participated in the games.

In the soccer, Amukelani from Malamulele won in the ground and random draw, which gave them a ticket to represent the district at the provincial games to be played on a date to be announced. Nesengani was the winner in futsal, while Tshilwavhusiku won the floor hockey in the ground and through random draw.

Random draw is a process where a winner is chosen by picking one of the shuffled papers. This is in line with Special Olympics motto, everyone who participates in their games is a winner.  

The winning teams were given a trophy, soccer kit and soccer balls, donated by Express Shop, Thohoyandou.

Manwadu, a disabled person himself, started running in the Olympics games in 2003.  He visited countries such as Sweden, USA, China, Germany, South Korea, Brazil, Greece and Ireland. He became the Special Olympics ambassador in 2009, after the committee saw his commitment to their sporting programmes.

Speaking through his personal assistant, Mohau Chewe, Manwadu said he decided to start his annual Special Olympic games in 2013 in order to give other disabled people an opportunity to participate in the sport like he did.

Since he started his games, many disabled people from Vhembe have participated in international events. “I am happy that other disabled people like myself had the opportunity to showcase their talent at international level, like Tshilwavhusiku who visited South Korea for floor hockey. From provincial level, we will go to national level where winners will go and compete with others in Sweden,” says Manwadu.

Date:08 June 2019

By: Ndivhuwo Musetha

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