Unified Cup

Hear from Special Olympics Unified Football coaches about their reasons for being involved in Special Olympics, what makes it so special, what they try to teach athletes and what the athletes teach them.

Ever wondered what it would be like to be a team at the Unified Cup or other Special Olympics competitions? Follow three of our programs on their daily schedules in Detroit while competing at the 2022 Unified Cup.

Hassam Zogaib (SO Paraguay) and Garrett Utz (SO Washington) are both qualified football officials. Throughout the 2022 Unified Cup, Hassam and Garrett officiated the tournament showing proficiency and high standards, whileenjoying themselves along the way. Listen to Hassam and Garrett’s journeys to becoming an official, and the benefits that being an official has for them.

Alvaro Brochero is a Special Olympics Athlete from Venezuela. He is a football coach, an advisor and an Athlete Leader. Qualified as a coach by CONMEBOL, Alvaro took up the role as Match Commissioner at the 2022 Unified Cup in Detroit. Here is his story.

The Special Olympics Unified Cup presented by Toyota was hosted in Detroit Michigan in July 2022. As the second iteration of the Cup, this single sport competition was built on the inaugural installment in Chicago in 2018.The Unified Cup brought together over 300 footballers from more than 20 nations to compete in football (soccer)—the world’s most popular sport. The Special Olympics Unified Cup took place 31 July – 6 August 2022 and Special Olympics Unified Sports® is what marked it as uniquely inclusive: teams that were comprised of footballers with and without intellectual disabilities playing together.

Renowned Guatemalan national team member and international soccer player, Maria Fernanda Rossell, is making an impact on and off the pitch as a coach at Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023.

Dominique DeHerrera may be undersized, but her size doesn’t hold her back on the soccer pitch. Having played the sport since the age of four, the now 20-year-old DeHerrera gets to show her athletic ability and intense competitive spirit at the forward position. Her fierce and mighty style of play has created opportunities that only a select few get to experience.

In an amazing, tight suspenseful game where there were 14 brilliant saves from the goalkeepers and there was brilliant pulsating football (soccer) that captured the… well then whistle blew for normal time at 1-1.

90Min.com, the online football (soccer) news site, covered the women’s and men’s Division 1 final matches of the Special Olympics Unified Cup Detroit 2022.

ESPN's 60-minute special showcasing the best action, moments and stories from the Special Olympics Unified Cup Detroit 2022 is now available to watch on demand.