Bulgaria Unified Sports Exchange

About the Program

From November 10-22, 2024, ten Bulgarian coaches, sports administrators, and special education professionals participated in a Unified Sports exchange in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Sports Diplomacy Division’s International Sports Programming Initiative program, the exchange focused on expanding Unified Sports programs that bring together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities.

During the program, the participants completed a three-day training led by Special Olympics North American Unified Champion Schools Senior Manager at the Massachusetts Special Olympics headquarters. There they gained access to curriculum for training and working with athletes with special needs, discussed building athlete partner networks in schools starting at a young ages, and strategies for working toward positive parent involvement. They discussed realities for students with intellectual disabilities in Bulgarian schools and brainstormed interventions they could make upon returning from the exchange.

They joined roundtables and panels with U.S. special education teachers, Special Olympics athletes and their coaches and player partners, and parents at local elementary and high schools. They also gained valuable insights from a UMASS Boston professor specializing in adaptive physical education, a Bulgarian Fulbright Scholar, and discussed how to measure impact of sports interventions. The group collaborated with Dartmouth High School to view their schoolwide Unified Basketball jamboree and pep rally, and volunteered at Unified basketball and volleyball jamborees in Rhode Island at the high school and college levels.

In addition to their professional activities, participants explored U.S. history and culture. They learned about the democratic process through visits with They visited the TD Garden Sports Museum, the Basketball Hall of Fame, toured the Newport Mansions, and attended professional sporting events. A highlight was seeing the Boston Celtics defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden.