The Development of Disability Sport
Before the late 1900s Disability sport was considered to be very rare in the world of sport. But after the second world war, when the first Paralympics were held in 1960 in Rome, there was a possibility that the severely injured soldiers who had survived the war, could still achieve something in their lives, especially in sport. This was the turning point for sport and disability to come together as another identity sports participation.
According to 'Sport England', disability sport is still facing some barriers even though it plays a major role for sport in the UK. One of the barriers is coaching in the sense that it is sometimes difficult fo a coach to teach and monitor a group of physically disabled people than it is for a group of able bodied people for reasons such as health and safety. But since the 2012 Paralympic Games, this has changed drastically.
Whether it's do with funding for coaches or something similar, this seams to be one of the main issues discussed quite frequently in the disability sports world. According to prospectus .ac.uk, the average salary for a Senior Sports Coach who is employed under national governing bodies is between £30,000 and £35,000. The average salary for newly qualified Sports Coaches is from £15,000 to £25,000 and for amateur coaches it starts from £10.
A wide range of disabled people such as myself have competed in a variety of disability sports such as wheelchair football, basketball and Boccia, which is a sport similar to bowls. Participating in sports gives disabled people the freedom to express themselves and to show people who they are as an individual in regards to playing sport.
I remember taking part in the 'Panathlon Challenge', which is a national charity competition which was originally set up by Businessman and Philanthropist Jack Petchey for schools with special needs students from all over London to come and showcase their skills and abilities in regards to sports participation. This event is like a mini Paralympic games, which one lasts one whole day. Each special needs school from each borough of London e.g Croydon and Bromley come together and compete against each other in a series of Paralympic sport related games. This includes sports such as: Boccia, New Age Kurling, Polybat (disabled version of table tennis) and Table Cricket(specially adapted cricket for Cerebral Palsy)which is the sport I competed in during those events and obtained four medals, one gold, one sliver, one bronze and one for 5th place.
Many people such as myself can learn a lot about sports and especially sports participation by attending these events. it is a great opportunity to collaborate as well as competing with other athletes who have similar disabilities. Having participated in these events, I was able to believe that anything possible in sport and no matter who you are, you can still achieve success in life.
One of my early memories of sports participation was the first and only time I met the Queen, which at the London Youth Games in 2002, I was astonished when I heard that her Majesty will be giving out the medals when my school won the Regional B
occia Championships which were prat of the Youth Games. We were even on the front page of the local newspaper so for me, this has to be one of my best memories in sports participation.
One of the more common disability sports is wheelchair basketball in which I have had ago at. It may not have the same pace as a regular basketball game, but for me, it was quite satisfying to have a go at, as it is good to experiment and try different things. This enables you to judge who you are as an individual and find out what you are good at and what areas do you need to improve on in terms of participating in sports.
One of the biggest barriers that occur in disability sport is its popularity in the sense that other than the Paralympics, you rarely get to see any disability sports events on television as you do for regular Olympic sports such as athletics and football, you have to either stream it online or attend a live event. This is largely to do with the lack of global interest in Paralympic sport. It is quite rare that you see a disabled person only watching disability sports, they are pretty much like regular sports fans who enjoy watching regular sports such as football or cricket.
On the plus side, it's good to see that disabled people such as myself are still willing to be involved in sport, as we have the passion and desire to do so. There is no point getting into sports without the desire to succeed and enjoy it, and that's why I love it.
According to 'Sport England', disability sport is still facing some barriers even though it plays a major role for sport in the UK. One of the barriers is coaching in the sense that it is sometimes difficult fo a coach to teach and monitor a group of physically disabled people than it is for a group of able bodied people for reasons such as health and safety. But since the 2012 Paralympic Games, this has changed drastically.
Whether it's do with funding for coaches or something similar, this seams to be one of the main issues discussed quite frequently in the disability sports world. According to prospectus .ac.uk, the average salary for a Senior Sports Coach who is employed under national governing bodies is between £30,000 and £35,000. The average salary for newly qualified Sports Coaches is from £15,000 to £25,000 and for amateur coaches it starts from £10.
A wide range of disabled people such as myself have competed in a variety of disability sports such as wheelchair football, basketball and Boccia, which is a sport similar to bowls. Participating in sports gives disabled people the freedom to express themselves and to show people who they are as an individual in regards to playing sport.
I remember taking part in the 'Panathlon Challenge', which is a national charity competition which was originally set up by Businessman and Philanthropist Jack Petchey for schools with special needs students from all over London to come and showcase their skills and abilities in regards to sports participation. This event is like a mini Paralympic games, which one lasts one whole day. Each special needs school from each borough of London e.g Croydon and Bromley come together and compete against each other in a series of Paralympic sport related games. This includes sports such as: Boccia, New Age Kurling, Polybat (disabled version of table tennis) and Table Cricket(specially adapted cricket for Cerebral Palsy)which is the sport I competed in during those events and obtained four medals, one gold, one sliver, one bronze and one for 5th place.Many people such as myself can learn a lot about sports and especially sports participation by attending these events. it is a great opportunity to collaborate as well as competing with other athletes who have similar disabilities. Having participated in these events, I was able to believe that anything possible in sport and no matter who you are, you can still achieve success in life.
One of my early memories of sports participation was the first and only time I met the Queen, which at the London Youth Games in 2002, I was astonished when I heard that her Majesty will be giving out the medals when my school won the Regional B
occia Championships which were prat of the Youth Games. We were even on the front page of the local newspaper so for me, this has to be one of my best memories in sports participation.
One of the more common disability sports is wheelchair basketball in which I have had ago at. It may not have the same pace as a regular basketball game, but for me, it was quite satisfying to have a go at, as it is good to experiment and try different things. This enables you to judge who you are as an individual and find out what you are good at and what areas do you need to improve on in terms of participating in sports.
One of the biggest barriers that occur in disability sport is its popularity in the sense that other than the Paralympics, you rarely get to see any disability sports events on television as you do for regular Olympic sports such as athletics and football, you have to either stream it online or attend a live event. This is largely to do with the lack of global interest in Paralympic sport. It is quite rare that you see a disabled person only watching disability sports, they are pretty much like regular sports fans who enjoy watching regular sports such as football or cricket.
On the plus side, it's good to see that disabled people such as myself are still willing to be involved in sport, as we have the passion and desire to do so. There is no point getting into sports without the desire to succeed and enjoy it, and that's why I love it.
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