Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108connect 2017 • 27 Q. Tell us more about this new position and what it is helping IWA achieve A. So my role is to set up multi-sport clubs in southeast counties so that children with a physical disability would have the opportunity to take part in sport and to experience a number of different sports. The great thing is, they are set up in collaboration with families of kids with a disability so they ultimately aren’t completely reliant on my role. They are sustainable by the local community. Q. What is the age range of the children you’re working with? A. Ages 4-18. We have had a number of 4 year olds and we’d be keen to get them involved as well. Early intervention is really important. Q. The model of sustainability is a unique aspect of the IWA multi-sport clubs. How do you get communities involved? A. In Waterford alone we have 35 children who came along to a ‘come and try’ day. So that meant we had their 35 parents doing leadership training on how to become leaders of a club and how to run a club efficiently. We run a number of different sports for 6 week periods. So for example we’ll do wheelchair basketball for 6 weeks and then they get to try another 6 weeks of judo. Most importantly, it is whatever sports the kids would like to try. At the same time, parents are trained in those sports as well. Q. Would you say the multi-sport approach is something most communities would not have had access to before IWA brought it to their county? A. I would confidently say they haven’t had access before our arrival, and there’s a been great ripple effect. There are teachers now coming to us and saying ‘could you come into our class? We want to include this little girl or little boy in our PE class and we don’t want them sitting with a whistle on the sidelines.’ Now we’re going into the schools and working with teachers on how they can make their physical education more accessible to a child with a physical disability. Q. What would be an example of how a teacher or a local school would do that. What are the things that you would teach them? A. I show them simple things like what they need to do to adapt. Maybe they just need to change the equipment slightly, maybe they need more space. We’ve brought wheelchairs for the teachers to see what it’s like to be in a chair and to do what they’re asking the child to do. Q. Are you battling misperceptions about people using wheelchairs? A. Often teachers find they have been over-thinking it, or they think a child is going to break. Last week the PE teacher of one of the kids that plays wheelchair basketball asked if we could come to her school to show wheelchair basketball to the other students. So I went along and we showed the other kids what she does. Q. What came out of that experience? A. Her mother rang me later that evening and said it’s the best she’s felt in so long. It was something I had forgotten, that something small can have a really big impact. This child is now seen as equal. Before the other students would have thought ‘she’s not going to be involved in this.’ Last week she pushed against everybody else. It was the first time she got to be the best. The Ireland Funds are helping us do this for so many children, one sport at a time. “I love being on the basketball team because it’s the only place where I really feel like I belong, and when Joanne came to my school to do wheelchair basketball it was the best PE of my life because I was really good at it.” – Jake, age 15 “It’s been a great way to get exercise, keep fit and make new friends.”– Sophie, age 15