Play Unified –Young Athletes 2020-2021

As part of the project “Young Athletes – Play Unified” the Albanian Sports Science Association has conducted anthropometric measurements and physical tests of children with intellectual disabilities. This project is implemented by the Special Olympics Albania, funding from the US Embassy and with the support of Tirana Municipality. 

These measurements are of particular importance not only for reflecting the current level of intellectual disabilities athletes with but also for monitoring the quality of training program applied in this category.

ASSA team and researchers in cooperation with the coaches and staff from SMART Sport Center had composed a protocol of measurements based on the European Protocol for Special Olympics and protocol for anthropometric measurements and test on children. 

This project plans to study basic movements of children with intellectual disabilities, flexibility and strength, finding a correlation between sports practice and physical wellness. Simple measurements were taken. Children enthusiastically introduced themselves and gave the team a worm welcome in their event. 

While getting to know them, ASSA team took notes and asked questions about their lifestyle, how often do they train and participate in sportive events. Than they tested children’s flexibility and strength with simple tasks. 

These tasks were approved by the International Protocol and carefully applied by the team.