By Emma Logan, Communications Manager
It was another successful Parasport Festival as Tayside welcomed 57 participants to their event on Wednesday 6th March.
Dundee & Angus College hosted the Parasport Festival which saw children and young people participate in nine different sports, including: athletics, judo, fencing, goalball, boccia, badminton, basketball, football and cycling.
Graeme Doig, Scottish Disability Sport’s (SDS) Regional Development Manager for Tayside, said: “We’ve all enjoyed another wonderful Parasport Festival in Tayside, and it was great to see so many pupils with smiles on their faces all day long learning new skills, increasing confidence and making new friends.”
Out of the 57 participants, 20 attended for the first time, which is a positive indicator of the increase in Parasport awareness within the region.
The event was a great celebration for the community, as three local authorities (Angus, Dundee City and Perth & Kinross) supported the Parasport Festival with children/young people attending from across 28 schools.
“The local clubs involved, along with Sports students from Dundee & Angus College, led the way with their sport, introduced adaptative equipment and demonstrated that with the right support and small adaptations, sport really is for everyone”, said Graeme Doig.
Elite Para athlete, Rory McKinna, was at the Parasport Festival showcasing his sport, Para sailing. Rory provided a talk to explain about Para sailing and even brought in one of his training boats.
“Probably one of the best things about the Parasport festival is the diversity of sports availabl”, said Rory.
He continued to say, “Quite often there’s things that you might not have the opportunity to see, just on a day-to-day basis. Sailing for instance, kayaking. They’re based on the water so if you’re not near the water then you might not naturally see those sports. So, coming along today you’ll get introduced to a bunch of things that you might have never considered before and you never know, it might just be the sport for you.”
Dundee City Council was represented by members of the Deaf Education Team from the Accessibility and Inclusion Service. They remarked on the Parasport Festival, saying: “We are delighted once again to be a part of Tayside Parasport Festival in Dundee. We always love to support this event because the organistaion is excellent, the communication and explanation of all events and all the activities is of an excellent standard and it is a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to come together and it shows the power of breaking down barriers through sport and the power of experiential earning for all our learners.”
Tayside will be hosting a second day for water sports, including swimming. More details for day two will be confirmed at a later date.
Forth Valley’s Parasport Festival will be taking place on Wednesday 14th March, which leaves the East of Scotland and Shetland. To find out more about SDS’s Parasport Festivals, visit here.