Hammerum Special Olympics

On April 7th 2011 on a football field in the middle of Jutland, Denmark, a very special football team had it’s first training. The football team was for children with a variety of handicaps. Since then, the team has grown and today it also includes adults.

All the players have two things in common: They absolutely love football – and happen to be diagnosed with a handicap. The team is working hard to give the players a higher self-worth and creating lasting bonds with the other players, while also improving the player’s health, fitness and football skills.

The players all have a unique set of challenges, but despite their differences the team has a great team-spirit and unity. The players all suffer from learning disabilities, is or have been in special classes, but their individual diagnoses cover a broad palette of handicaps, such as severe ADHD, being heavily hearing impaired, various degrees of spasticity and other physical handicaps.

The philosophy at Hammerum Special Olympics is that they find power and strength in their differences. The variety of handicaps and the shared experience of feeling “different” creates a strong degree of understanding and acceptance. Bullying is simply not an issue at Hammerum. Instead, the players have a shared feeling of acceptance, respect, health and friendship. Something, we are big fans of!

The volunteer trainers and leaders at Hammerum are creating a valuable and important difference in the player’s lives. When you’re facing so many challenges every day, as people with severe handicaps are, they deserve a little bit of help – and so does the volunteers who helping them. That’s why we’re proud supporters of Hammerum Special Olympics Football team.   

Read more about Hammerum football team here (page in Danish.)