SIDO Year 1 Annual Report (March 2008 - February 2009)

Sports Ability Day 2008Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership held their first Sports Ability day at the Institute ofTechnology, Ballinode on Saturday September 20 th 2008. The purpose of the SportsAbility event was to give people with a disability the opportunity to try out a range ofdifferent sports and active recreational activities and to help establish which activitiesthey enjoy and might like to pursue in the future. In conjunction with the Sports InclusionDisability Project national objectives, a number of key focus sports were selected to bedelivered at the event. These included Athletics, Boccia, Soccer and the use of theGym/Fitness suite. Furthermore, a number of additional activities were selected in orderto broaden the choice available to the participants and increase the potential for findingbeneficial and enjoyable activities for all. The additional sports activities on offer includedArchery, Basketball/Wheelchair Basketball, Cycling (Tandem Cycling), TableTennis/Table Top Games and New Age Kurling. The day was divided into a morning andafternoon session, with the morning catering for individuals with physical/sensorydisabilities and the afternoon session aimed at those with an intellectual disability.During both sessions the participants were split into groups and given the opportunity totry all of the activities on offer if they so wished. All of the various activities beingdelivered were supported by a number of experienced coaches and instructors. Thisenabled the participants, regardless of their ability level to ‘have a go’ at the range ofactivities on offer in a safe and supportive environment. Shane Hayes, Sports InclusionDisability Officer with Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership gave special praise to theclubs and organisations, both local and national that supported the event and providedquality coaching and instruction in their various sports. Locally these included theCarrowmore Archers, Sligo Athletics Club, Sligo City Table Tennis Club, InnisfreeWheelers Cycling Club, Special Olympics Connacht and the local FAI DevelopmentOfficer. He stated that their support is a testament to the clubs/organisationscommitment towards developing inclusive sports activities for people in Sligo. Nationally,the Irish Wheelchair Association introduced and delivered Wheelchair Basketball as wellas providing hand cycles for participants to try out on the track. He concluded by sayingthat without the support of these groups and the expertise they provided the day wouldnot have been possible.“I thought the sports day was excellent and very well put together. I got totry Wheelchair Basketball, Archery and Track and Field, and I’d definitely like totry them again “ MC Female Adult Participant with a Physical Disability“ His favorite was the bowling and the table tennis, it was great that he could takepart in everything, and thank you for organising these great days for our specialkids” Mother of 7 year old child with an Intellectual Disability“The day was brilliant as there was plenty of choice. We had great fun taking partin the different sports and it gave me a challenge”20 year old male with intellectual disability9