What Sports are suitable for people in wheelchairs?
There are a wide range of sports that people in wheelchairs can play. These include sports such as archery, athletics (track and field), wheelchair basketball, lawn bowls, cue sports (snooker and 9 ball pool), wheelchair rugby, wheelchair racing (road), fencing, handcycling, powerlifting, racquetball, swimming, table tennis and tennis. There are also a number of winter sports including sledge hockey and skiing where people use specially designed equipment to participate. Nowadays there are a wide range of other activities available for recreational sport and contacts for many of these activities can be found on the WheelPower website.
Do I need a special chair to play wheelchair sport?
Although at entry level it is not essential to have a specialised sports wheelchair many of the sports use equipment and chairs to make the sport easier to play. WheelPower does not provide funding for sports wheelchairs as these are very personal and are available from a number of manufacturers and suppliers. At junior level there are some organisations who do help with funding including The Lords Taverners, Get Kids Going and Whizz Kidz. Contact details are on the WheelPower website.
What are the Paralympic Games?
Held in “parallel” with the winter and summer Olympic Games the Paralympic Games are the Olympics for the Disabled. Usually held in the same city as the Olympics the Paralympic Games are held every 4 years and are the ultimate sporting challenge for a disabled sportsman or woman.
In 2004 the XII Summer Paralympic Games will be held in Athens, Greece from 17-28 September and will include some 5,000 athletes from around 125 countries.
How do I start playing wheelchair sport?
Depending on your age you could start at a number of WheelPower events
• Primary Sports Camps – one day fun sports camps introducing sport to 6-12 year old children with disabilities
• Junior Games and events – aimed at 12-18 year olds with a combination of coaching and competition
• Sports Camps – organised by the sports associations under the WheelPower umbrella for adults and juniors at all levels from introduction to elite. These camps are usually over the weekend and many take place at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium
• National Championships – held annually at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium these are the WheelPower's annual national event in around 10 different sports. Although they are championships they also include many athletes at intermediate level and offer competition in different sports and classes
How is wheelchair sport funded?
Wheelpower - British Wheelchair Sport is the national charity for wheelchair sport in the UK. Funded through donations and contributions from charitable trusts, groups and individuals the Foundation annually has to raise around £1 million to fund its work in providing sporting opportunities for disabled people.
Who was Ludwig Guttmann?
The late Sir Ludwig Guttmann was the founder of WheelPower and sport for the disabled. Guttmann, a German Neurologist, set up the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the late 1940’s and introduced sport as part of the rehabilitation of his patients.
In 1948 he organized the first national competition to coincide with the London Olympic Games and in 1952 the first international events were organized at Stoke Mandeville. In 1960 the first Paralympic Games were held in Rome and the Pope called Guttmann “the deCubertan of the Paralysed”
Guttmann once said “If I ever did one good thing in my medical career it was to introduce sport into the rehabilitation of people with disabilities”
The work Guttmann started has now developed into a Paralympic Movement worldwide and he is acknowledged as the father of the Paralympics and sport for the disabled.
What is Classification?
Sport is divided into classifications, for example men compete separately to women, in combat sports people compete by body weight.
In disabled sport classification is the method by which fair and equitable competition is achieved. In addition to the traditional classifications as above there are classifications based on disability and function. The systems vary from sport to sport and more recently classification in many sports has been based on functional ability, enabling groups to be combined reducing the number of classifications and enhancing the competition.
At entry level classification is usually more important in terms of “minimum disability” which is the term used to describe the minimum level of injury/disability which means you are eligible to participate in disabled sport.
What sport should I play?
Choosing a sport should be based on a few basic principles:
• Which sport attracts me
• Which sport will I enjoy the most
• Which sport am I most suited for (physically and technically)
• Do I want to play for fun or in serious competition Once you have decided on a sport, give it a try. If you find it’s not for you there are many others to choose from and you may find you are better suited to one sport than another. Some sports are more competitively structured and others offer more social opportunities. All are open to men and women although some do have age restrictions for participation so it’s worth checking first.
Before taking part in any activity it is always worth checking with your doctor to make sure that taking part will not cause you any harm.
Do wheelchair athletes receive much funding to help them reach elite levels in their sports?
In the UK wheelchair athletes start by attending events supported by the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation including the Inter Spinal Unit Games for the recently paralysed, Primary Sports Camps for 6-11 year olds and Junior events for 12-18 year olds.
Once an athlete has selected a sport they wish to pursue they join one of WheelPower's “sports associations”. Many train at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the national centre for wheelchair sport. WheelPower supports this training through grants and subsidies for use of facilities, catering and accommodation.
As funding permits WheelPower supports the participation of British wheelchair athletes in international competition. However in more recent years support for elite wheelchair athletes has formed part of the “World Class Performance” funding supported by the National Lottery.
Around how many wheelchair athletes participate in the Paralympic games
This varies depending on the number of sports and the number who gain the standards needed to qualify. The GB Team is co-ordinated by the British Paralympic Association.
On average, how much publicity do we receive in a year?
Not as much as we would like! Coverage has improved and certain publications like the Daily Telegraph and BBC Sport are committed to covering disability sport and the Paralympic Games. Coverage tends to be focussed around events and personalities.
Do you think that wheelchair athletes are treated as fairly/well as non-wheelchair athletes?
As awareness of wheelchair sport grows and facilities become more accessible then it can be expected that people with disabilities in society will be treated fairly. Sport is challenging and disabled sport cannot hope to compete with football, rugby and cricket as the numbers who participate are much smaller.
It is our goal to ensure that our athletes are respected for their abilities and promoted for their achievements. We must ensure that there are the opportunities on offer for all who wish to take part, whether for fun or in serious competition. In order to do this the WheelPower needs funding, much of which we rise through charitable donations, fundraising events and with the help of many volunteers.
