Berlin, Germany will be hosting the 2023 Special Olympics from June 17 to 25, with 7,000 athletes competing in 24 sports.
One of those athletes, Steven Saman, is a Regina resident who is the only player from Saskatchewan on the Canadian men’s basketball team.
“It’s been my passion to play basketball,” Saman said.
He’s been playing basketball for seven years, and moved to Regina in December 2021.
Saman says he’s representing his home and that he’ll be giving it his all and never giving up.
He added that he has people backing him up and helping to guide him, and that he’s going to be strategizing with one of his teammates.
He said his mom and sister will be going with him to Berlin, and they are all excited to get out there.
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“I’m pretty happy and pretty proud of how I got selected.”
His mother, Naveen Nageeb, said they have some games lined up, as well as a team training camp.
“They will have some games in Calgary soon, something in Moose Jaw, they have another team camp sometime in April,” Nageeb said.
Faye Matt, CEO of Special Olympics Saskatchewan, said it’s been a long time since they’ve had athletes on the stage, noting the last time was before the pandemic started.
“To have athletes on that pathway again is very special,” Matt said.
She said the training program is very robust.
“The athletes will be training several times a week, we’ll be supporting the athletes to ensure that their stories are told.”
She said the world games create a stage for athletes to perform at their highest level, and reminds people of the importance of sports for people with intellectual disabilities.
A total of eight athletes and five coaches will be representing Saskatchewan at the Games, and Matt said this is the largest contingent of athletes from a variety of sports taking the stage.
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