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UMMC Basketball Players and Fedor Likholitov Hold a Masterclass for Children with Disabilities

On February 22, 2024 at sports school No. 3 named after A. D. Myshkin, a sporting event took place - a famous Russian basketball player Fedor Likholitov and players of the UMMC basketball club Anastasiia Shilova and Alexandra Stolyar conducted a basketball masterclass for the children from the Special Olympics.

The masterclass was organized as part of a special inclusive program of the Russian Basketball Federation (RFB) “quiet!basketball”, aimed at drawing attention to sports for people with special needs. The participants were young players with intellectual, hearing and musculoskeletal disabilities from the Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Special Olympics of Russia.

The main goal of the project is to prove that every person, regardless of age and ability, can take a ball and find themselves on the court! This is what the young participants demonstrated today - together with professional athletes, they trained the skill of dribbling the ball, practiced shooting layups and played active games.

After an active practice, the children had the opportunity to communicate with their idols and ask all their questions. The event was not without memorable gifts from the “Foxes” - the young players were given orange packages as a keepsake of the meeting and, according to tradition, it all ended with a group photo and an autograph session.

Fedor Likholitov shared his impressions:

-         Everything went great; the kids were “tuned in”. Apparently, many of them play basketball, they move very well, they are well trained, many thanks to their coaches! We wanted to show that basketball could be not only a training session, but also fun and entertaining. We succeeded.

Olga Boyko (executive director of the Special Olympics)

- There has been a wonderful collaboration between high-level athletes and kids who are changing their lives through basketball! These are special children, they have health problems, but everyone was equal on the court today. It doesn't matter how we throw the ball, the main thing is that we are all together!