Inclusive Sports
We are nearly 2 months into the new year. We have the COVID-19 vaccine rolling out and there is hope in the air that we will soon see the end of it. The world and life will pick itself back up again and we will get back to our new normal. If anything has thought us that physical and mental health is so important it is the lockdown around COVID-19.
A great way to focus on our health and fitness is practising sport, joint sporting programmes and getting out there with a team. Sadly this is not true for all of us. While everyone should be able to benefit from sporting activities, many people with disabilities are faced with barriers each day.
They would wish to be involved, but to this day, there are still a number of barriers that prevent them from joining in. This is why we are here today. We wanted to shine a light on the amazing benefits of inclusive sports and the barriers many still face.
While COVID-19 is still not a distant memory and spring activities are not fully up and running, now is the time to think and reflect on how we as a nation can make focus on making everything accessible when things open up again. How we, as a nation can make all sports inclusive.
The Benefits:
- Increased Motor skills development
- Socialisation
- Feeling more confident
- Improved physical fitness
- Increased Independence
Society as a whole can greatly benefit from implementing and maintaining inclusive sports too, we would see a more:
- Increased appreciation for and acceptance of those with disabilities
- Increased understanding of diversity
- Creation of meaningful friendships
- Greater respect for all people
- Increased access and inclusion in other aspects of life
It can be difficult to achieve the above when there are still a number of barriers in the way.
The Barriers:
- Lack of awareness on those without disabilities – unsure of how to proceed and involve everyone
- Lack of opportunities and programmes
- Very few accessible facilities available
- Limited information on and access to resources
- Too few coaches
- Negative self-image and a lack of confidence
- Low levels of media coverage/few role models to aspire to
For those of you who wish to help and make sports a more inclusive activity, there is a great organisation there in the UK known as Activity Alliance whose sole purpose is to help disabled people become active for life. They do this by:
- Enabling organisations to support more disabled people to be active
- Engage and build partnerships to increase the number of disabled people taking part
- Work with the organisations to enhance their work with disabled people
- Team up with partners to help make active live possible
Of course, the fun doesn’t have to stop there, one thing we can all enjoy together is a cuppa make with your very own Uccello Kettle. Should you or someone you know benefit from our easy pour kettle, you can purchase your very own right here.
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