Amanda Manzardo on growth of women's game at Special Olympics

In 2007, Amanda Manzardo was the only female athlete on an all-male Canadian soccer team heading to the Special Olympics World Games in China.

Fast forward to 2023, Manzardo was part of an all-female Canadian soccer team which successfully won a bronze medal at the Special Olympics World Games in Germany.

Manzardo's is one of the many which show the exponential growth of the women's game in recent years.

After her successful trip to Berlin with the Canadian Special Olympics team, 90min sat down with Manzardo to discuss the Games and how women's soccer has grown since her Special Olympics debut back in 2007.

How did you get involved in Special Olympics and unified soccer?

"I didn't actually play unified soccer here in British Columbia [Canada], we didn't have it here. But I did play soccer ever since I was six years old, and I played with kids and young women with and without disabilities. Then at 17 years old I decided that I wasn't being treated fairly there by the girls, so a friend Kyle from my high school told me about it [Special Olympics] and I haven't stopped playing since.

"It's now been 20 years since I've joined Special Olympics."

Your first Special Olympics tournament was back in 2007 and, at that time, you were the only female athlete on an all male team. How was it being that sole female representative at that time?

"It was awesome because it showed that women can do as much as men on the team. It was a lovely experience and the atmosphere was brilliant at the Games."

You were part of a full-female team at the 2023 Games. How proud are you of the progression of the women's game?

"I think the progress is unreal, I think it's great. I've always played in women's soccer so I've seen it ever since I was young and there's alway been lots of teams to play against in generic soccer.

"With Special Olympics, my soccer coach Amanda has wanted a women's team for many years - I think since 2007 when she was a referee at the Games. For us to be a part of her team now that she's had this dream for, it's unreal.

"The trip to the games in Berlin was great. The girls were great, we all meshed really well together from the get go."

How did Canada perform at the Berlin Games?

"We played a couple of divisioning games first, and we did well. Played one team that was a little tough, but we ended up coming out with a bronze medal so we're very happy with our success.

"We're the first Canadian women's team to ever play at a Special Olympics and we came out with a bronze so I think we're over the moon with that. I think everybody was very proud of what we achieved.

"Right after the last game we all linked hands and ran up to the crowd, we all jumped up in the air, and we thanked our fans because we had a lot of fans there from parents and from other teams watching us.

"The game when we played against Cote d'Ivoire was the difficult one for us. At half-time our coach changed our strategy a bit and after that we really started to play as a team. I think it's always good to have a challenging game like that to test yourself. We had a really positive attitude after that and we all really trusted one another."