BAHRAIN -- Several Marines and Sailors from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) and the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) visited the Bahrain Disabled Sports Foundation here May 7 for a friendly game of wheelchair basketball with the country’s national Special Olympics basketball team.
As the Marines and Sailors arrived, they were introduced to foundation members and some of the players from the Bahraini team. The service members were then equipped with specially designed wheelchairs and took a few minutes in the courtyard to get the feel of the equipment before taking the court.
Players from both sides appeared apprehensive during this time, as social and language barriers seemed to make communication awkward.
However, these barriers crumbled quickly the moment the game begun as the spirit of competition took over.
“From being competitive, it brought about the friendship,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Shawnreno Ricks. “We communicated on the court by trying to challenge each other, so the communication definitely came forth. We were calling each other friend and everything like that, so it’s good.”
The afternoon started with a game combining Bahraini and U.S. players on the same teams as the Special Olympic squad waited for the remainder of their team to arrive.
In the game that followed, the Navy-Marine Corps team was pitted directly against the Bahraini squad in a full-court game of four-on-four. Despite the earlier practice for the Marines and Sailors, the national team made quick work of the service members who did all they could to keep up.
At the end of the day however, it was not the score, but the friendships established that seemed to matter most to the players.
"I enjoyed it more today because I met new people, new kinds of friends other than my own friends, so it's kind of fun for me and very interesting for me,” said Bahraini player Fasial Al-Asfoor through a translator. “I hope you will come back and play us again."
The 5th Fleet deputy chaplain initially arranged the game with the Bahraini foundation before turning it over to the Kearsarge and MEU Chaplains’ offices for final coordination.
This game, and many other community outreach projects like it, are an integral part of any port visit the ship makes regardless if it’s a working port, such as this one, or a liberty port.
USS Kearsarge and the 26th MEU (SOC) are in port in Bahrain to prepare for continued operations in the Arabian Gulf to help promote security and stability in the region.
For more information on the 26th MEU (SOC), log onto www.usmc.mil/26thmeu.