Senegalese Coach Unifies Community through Work with Special Olympics

At an early age, Hassan Badji saw that persons with disabilities in his home country of Senegal faced social exclusion and a lack of access to sport programs and equipment. With his passion grounded in addressing these challenges, Hassan has volunteered for the Special Olympics since he was 21 and now leads athlete leadership programs and volunteer trainings. In his role, Hassan aims to use Special Olympics unified sports and training camps to empower people with intellectual disabilities and their volunteer supporters in Dakar and other districts of Senegal.

For GSMP: Sport for Community 2019, Hassan will be mentored by Barbara Peacock and her team at Arizona Disabled Sports in Mesa, AZ where he will further develop communication skills and learn best practices for advocacy.