How to get into Disability Sports.
Sport is an essential part of any active and healthy lifestyle. It’s essential to strike a balance between work, play and exercise, in order to maintain overall good health.
Diet is also a key factor, but for the purposes of this article we’ll be focusing mainly on sport and more specifically, how to get into Disability Sports if you’re a wheelchair user and/or person with a disability.
There are many different types of Disability Sport, all you have to do in today’s era is tune into the Paralympics, which is beamed out to millions of viewers every four years, and you’ll see for yourself the large array of different physical disciplines that any disabled individual can get involved with.
Some of the most popular disability sports include the likes of Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby (Murderball), Wheelchair Racing, Track and Field events and so on.
Once you’ve highlighted a sport that you might be interested in, how do you go about finding out where your nearest club is, or whether or not it’s free for new participants to come and join in?
Social media is your friend in the hunt for Disability Sports!
The most useful place to start looking for more information on Disability Sports is the internet, and more specifically, Social Media. Once you’ve found out via a Google search where your nearest disability sports club is, you can then move on to find their Facebook page, or their Twitter account, and contact them directly seeking more information and signalling your intent to come along and try out.
What equipment do you need?
For many specialised Disability Sports, you’ll need to acquire the use of specific equipment. For example, if you’re wanting to try out Wheelchair Rugby, you’ll need a special type of Wheelchair that is rugged and designed to withstand high speed impacts. Some clubs may have their own set of spare wheelchairs, others may not – so you may need to investigate further ways in which to get your hands on the equipment you need, for yourself.
There are a great number of charities out there, dotted around Europe, that focus all of their attention on providing money and grants for disabled individuals looking to get into sport. These grants are then designed to be used to help partially/fully fund the equipment that you need. So it’s worth doing your research!
Try many different sports!
If you’re lucky enough to live near a disability sports club that offers many different types of sporting opportunities, then be sure to try your hand at as many different types of sport as possible. Don’t just settle for the first sport you come across. Maybe you’re giving Wheelchair Racing a go, but then discover that you prefer swimming competitively? Or maybe it’s Wheelchair Tennis that’s more your thing? The point is, with a wealth of different sports to choose from, it’d seem counteractive to settle for the first thing you try your hand at.
Having said that though, you might get lucky. The first sport you try might be the sport for you and the one that you fall in love with! The tips and advice in this article are more just general pointers, and what works for one person might not be as useful for another, it’s important to try all avenues and come up with your own methods for getting into the right sport for you!
If you’d like to find out more about articles such as this one, why not head on over to the Invacare Passionate People’s website, where you can find other cool blog posts that’ll help you on your way. Such as; “Grant Application Tips: Adaptive Sports Equipment”.
