“What’s your favorite soccer team?” That’s an easy question for Sseruwagi Cyrus Favour and Mwesigwa Sean Peter, two young leaders from Uganda. Cyrus cheers for Real Madrid and Manchester City, while Peter is a loyal Manchester United fan. Both have been playing soccer themselves from a young age—Cyrus as a striker, Peter as a goalkeeper and defender. Their shared love of soccer has brought them not only friendship but also a powerful mission: to unite children with and without intellectual disabilities through sports—and to fight bullying in their community.
Both Cyrus and Peter are participants at the Global Youth Leadership Summit, where they are shaping a project that uses soccer and basketball to break down barriers. In Uganda, children with intellectual disabilities often face bullying, name-calling, and exclusion. Cyrus can relate to how young people in this situation feel: “The person who is alone starts to feel as if they don’t have peace. You start feeling like you don’t have a friend,” he shares. Growing up, he himself was mocked and ridiculed because of his disability—until inclusive sports changed his life.
Through sports competitions and an inclusive school program, Cyrus met Peter, his Unified partner in both school and sports. Together, they experienced how powerful it is to win, lose, and grow together. “Sports brings people together and helps not exclude people. The point of the project is to help people with and without disabilities interact with each other so they can work together and collaborate,” Cyrus explains.
Their project, which they will implement after the Summit, plans to strengthen inclusive soccer and basketball programs for both in-school and out-of-school youth. A big part of their plan is to train 10 new youth trainers at two Special Olympics centers in Uganda—leaders who will help spread the message of inclusion and respect.
The Summit has given them tools to lead. “I’ve learned more about how to cooperate with people who have different ideas and how to make friends,” says Cyrus. Peter reflects on the importance of empathy as a leader: “I learned to look at things in an empathetic way. In order for me to help someone and ‘fit in somebody else’s shoes,’ you have to feel what that person is feeling.”
On and off the field, Cyrus and Peter are ready to lead and create a world where everybody belongs.
