A guide to finding
accessible sports
According to a
survey by the DWP Family Resources, there are 11.5 million disabled people in
England, which is around 20 per cent of the population. In line with this,
Sport England noted that disabled people are twice as likely to be physically
inactive — but another study suggested seven out of ten disabled people want to
be more active.
Speaking on the
subject, Baroness Grey-Thompson, a multiple Paralympic champion, said: “The
barriers [to participation] range from accessibility to staff training, but the
good news is the physical activity sector is committed to delivering inclusive
services for all.
“With ukactive,
the not-for-profit body comprised of members and partners from across the UK
active lifestyle sector, we are working with Sport England on the ‘Everyone
Can’ project to create a cultural shift and change perceptions around disabled
people’s participation in physical activity.”
Are you looking
for an accessible sport to pick up? We’ve teamed up with Stairlifts New York, to produce this
guide on the popularity of these activities and where you can go around the
country to get involved…
Participation
There are so
many accessible sports to choose from. On a global scale, take the Rio 2016
Paralympic Games as an example. This prestigious occasion was made up of 177
events — an increase of seven from the number recorded at the London 2012
Paralympic Games — which included everything from archery and athletics all the
way through to cycling, football, swimming and table tennis. 1,136 Para
athletes formed 146 participating teams as well, in an event which celebrated
69 new world records being set.
And the most
popular sport? Well, the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) has
claimed that blind football has now become one of the most popular sports
across the entire Paralympic programme. According to figures which the
governing body gathered after the 2017 Continental Championships, a total of 36
countries took part in the regional events; 15 from across Europe, 11 from the
Americas, six from Asia and four from Africa. The complete number is up 28 per
cent from the 28 countries which competed in the championships in 2015 and a
huge 71 per cent increase from the 2013 event.
In a statement,
the IBSA says: "Statistics released by IBSA show how blind football is
expanding and growing globally to become one of the most popular Paralympic
sports in the world. Data compiled from all the official IBSA 2017
international blind football championships show a significant increase in the
number of countries taking part in the events and an expansion of the game to
reach new parts of the world."
Within Britain…
The British
Wheelchair Basketball organisation claiming that more than 1,000 hours of
wheelchair basketball is played throughout the nation every day.
The Football
Association finding that there were 94 affiliated powerchair football teams
based in England as of January 2017, as well as over 1,000 players training in
the sport on a weekly basis.
The Tennis
Foundation stating that 12,689 disabled people played tennis on a monthly basis
at British venues which were involved in disability-specific sports development
programmes in 2018.
The disability
tennis programme has certainly been popular! Commenting on this, the Tennis
Foundation’s National Disability Development Manager Jill Osleger said: “We are
absolutely delighted with the impact our work in driving disability tennis is
having. To have turned what we launched in 2013 into one of the biggest
disability-specific sports development programmes in the country is a
phenomenal achievement.”
Ms Osleger also
noted that: “Tennis really is an adaptable sport that can be for anyone, and
there are proven benefits for a person’s physical and mental health, social life
and personal development. We’d encourage anyone to get along to a session, pick
up a racket and give it a go!”
Getting involved
It’s a lot
easier to get involved than you might think! Just take a look at the
opportunities available as listed by Parasport, which has an
ambition to establish the nation’s largest fun and vibrant community for
players, coaches and parents to share their experiences of para-sport, and
you’ll discover:
There are 38 opportunities
to play football, which includes places where you can give powerchair football
a go.
There are 18
opportunities to get involved in wheelchair basketball.
There are 15
opportunities to get active by playing tennis, which includes venues that host
wheelchair tennis sessions.
There are 22
opportunities to take up athletics, the sport of paratriathlon or wheelchair
triathlon.
In total,
Parasport has listed 160 opportunities throughout the UK covering over 60
different activities — there is sure to be a sport or way of getting fit which
will appeal to you.
Still worried?
Take a look at Disability
Rights UK’s comprehensive Doing Sport Differently guide to find support and
valuable information. Baroness Grey-Thompson believes that “this publication
could change your life”, due to it detailing how to access both sports and
leisure opportunities within and near to your neighbourhood.
The multi-Paralympic
medal winner said: “The ideas and suggestions in this guide and the stories of
others’ experiences helped me to think about what I wanted. Just as you will, I
found the right way for me.
“Sport and
sports facilities are far more accessible to all than they were when I started
racing in the 1980s. Doing Sport Differently is the first-ever guide to sport
written by disabled people for disabled people designed to enable us to take
full advantage of this. There is no reason why we shouldn’t get as much out of sport
and exercise as non-disabled people. I am living proof of that.”
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