An international year-round sports training and competition aimed at equipping coaches with special skills to handle the mentally retarded, opened in Accra.

Dubbed 'Special Olympics', the programme provides support to help build confidence in the mentally handicapped in Africa.

Addressing the participants majority of whom were drawn from Ghana with a few Nigerians, Madam Katherine Clark, Regional Director for Special Olympics in Africa said Ghana is the third out of five African states selected for the programme after Togo and Zimbabwe.

She expressed the hope that at the end, the programme would have develop the potentials of sports people including athletes in Ghana.

Courses will be offered in administration and event management for 25 participants to be drawn from the five countries, She added and urged the participants to prepare athletes to represent Ghana in the world competition to be staged in Ireland in 2003.

"What makes Special Olympics unique is that it is the only sport that allows people with equal ability to compete and help them gain some recognition."

Some of the participants later told the GNA that, the course would help them to handle the mentally handicapped in a special way than they used to.

The four-day programme has resource persons from the United States, Togo and Zimbabwe.

The next course will be organised in Lesotho and subsequently in Ivory Coast.