Sports program aims to increase participation of disabled people

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A national program is changing the way we think about disability, sport and inclusion. The aim is to increase the participation of disabled people in sport as well as give disabled women more opportunities for employment in the sports sector.

Transcript

00:00 When Thomas McAnally tried wheelchair basketball for the first time, he found it a challenge.

00:07 The best is probably bouncing because it's easy and shooting's hard but easy.

00:16 The nine-year-old now participates in an all-abilities program run by Frankston Basketball Association in Victoria,

00:23 which has previously struggled with how to include disabled people in their community.

00:29 We couldn't cater to adults or anybody in a wheelchair or anybody that had a different disability.

00:36 To improve disability participation, the club is taking part in the Building Inclusive Sport Clubs project,

00:43 leading them to develop new versions of the game, including a vision loss and blind basketball program.

00:50 One of the reasons that I joined the course in the first place was to come up with more ideas

00:55 and come up with more programs that we could do to include more people with disabilities.

01:00 Developed by Victoria University and Disability Sports Australia,

01:04 the eight-month-long program is in its third year, featuring 34 clubs from across the country.

01:11 Project manager and Paralympian Elle Steele says the program aims to build the confidence of clubs.

01:18 It's much more about how can we as a collective in our club or in our organisation

01:24 be a place where people with disabilities feel safe and welcome.

01:29 It's also designed to create more employment opportunities for disabled women in the sports sector.

01:35 Nine disabled women facilitate the project, including Miss Steele,

01:40 providing support through workshops and visits.

01:43 You live with a disability, you tend to learn what it means to make things more accessible

01:49 or how to talk about accessibility or disability just because it's your life,

01:53 and they can share their kind of shared knowledge.

01:57 It isn't just mainstream clubs that need support.

02:02 World Blind Golf is an organisation created by and for golfers with low or no vision.

02:08 Yeah, the face is good.

02:10 It's designed to work closely with golf clubs around Queensland

02:14 to open up opportunities for blind participants, as well as attract new players to the sport.

02:21 Oh, wow!

02:23 We're trying to make it easy for anyone that has any type of visual impairment,

02:27 whether they're blind or have any type of visual issue, to go to a golf course,

02:32 join with a bunch of mates and enjoy golf.

02:36 World Blind Golf is helping them achieve these objectives,

02:40 including working with professional golfers to give them the experience of teaching disabled people.

02:47 And the pro here at Brisbane Golf Club, he teaches one of our blind golfers on a weekly basis

02:53 and learning to adapt even his coaching style to her needs.

02:58 If we can make everything inclusive now, then it's much more likely that it will not only change our lives,

03:04 but the lives of other people.

03:06 Making inclusion central to all sport.

03:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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