Inter Miami CF, in collaboration with Special Olympics, MLS WORKS, and ESPN, announced today the signing of 11 Special Olympics Athletes and their Unified Sports partners who will launch the inaugural Inter Miami CF Special Olympics Unified Team (IMCFSOUT). The team is made up of athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities and unified partners.
The 2021 Inter Miami CF Special Olympics Unified Team Roster
The 2021 Inter Miami CF Special Olympics Unified Team players signed their contracts in September alongside Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson before meeting in the First Team locker room. Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville was there to meet the team and give them a team talk ahead of their first training session.
The Club’s newest signings then met Club co-owner David Beckham at the Sept. 17 match, who wished them luck ahead of their exciting inaugural season.
The team conducted multiple training sessions at the Inter Miami CF Training Center to prepare ahead of their inaugural match on Wednesday, Oct. 27 against the Atlanta United FC Special Olympics Unified team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Players
1 - Carlos Andres Rodríguez - Unified Partner
2 - Alain Figueroa - Athlete
3 - Alan Daniel Garcia - Athlete
4 - Luis Miguel Nieves - Athlete
5 - Peter Reece - Athlete
6 - Eduardo Marquez - Athlete
7 - Leandro Marquez - Athlete
8 - Christian Curry - Athlete
9 - Daniel Alonso - Unified Partner
10 - Marco Ramírez - Unified Partner
11 - Sky Carrizo - Athlete
Coaching Staff
The Inter Miami CF Special Olympics Unified team will be led by coaches Daniel Cartaya, Director, OPA Works and a Founding member at Our Pride Academy, a non-profit 501(c)3 school for kids with developmental disabilities Pre-K through to adult, and current Inter Miami CF Academy coach and former MLS and Trinidad and Tobago National Team player Julius James.
Wednesday, Oct. 27: A Long-Awaited Debut
Inter Miami CF’s Special Olympics Unified Team will fly to Atlanta on Tuesday, Oct. 26 for the team’s inaugural match. Prior to the Inter Miami CF versus Atlanta United FC Major League Soccer (MLS) match on Wednesday, Oct. 27, IMCFSOUT will face the Atlanta United Special Olympics Unified Team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The teams will spend the day together doing activities around the city before battling it out on the field.
Tryouts for the team were held in 2020 and the inaugural IMCFSOUT team was selected, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the team’s debut season had to be postponed.
For more information on the MLS WORKS initiatives, including the Special Olympics Unified Program visit https://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-works/.
