Training to support sport and recreation providers to be more inclusive with their activities has been offered in a bid to get more children with disabilities involved in physical activity. 

A series of training sessions, hosted by Sport Southland and run by Halberg Foundation Otago/Southland Lead Advisor Bridget Meyer, were held in early September. 

A range of organisations attended, including sport and recreation providers, organisations working with children and young people, and councils. 

Sport Southland Made to Move Community Connector Michelle Greenwood said feedback from providers had shown there was a need and a desire to upskill community groups and sports organisations around providing inclusive opportunities for children and young people of differing abilities. 

“These sessions showcased new adaptive ways of working, options for reducing barriers to involvement, and learnings to encourage meaningful engagement and valuable opportunities for children and young people with disabilities in our community.” 

Sport Southland Tamariki Lead Shan Jensen-Loach said providing the Inclusion training was a valuable tool for community organisations, schools, sports organisations...”Anyone working with children with disabilities” to approach how they offer physical activity options differently.  

“It’s about making sure that teachers, sport and recreation providers, councils, community organisations, are equipped and confident to provide inclusive activity options that ensure children and young people with disabilities not only have a voice, but also an opportunity to engage and take part in quality and fulfilling activity options.” 

“These sessions not only lift the confidence of the providers to approach their activities more inclusively but to explore how they engage with and ask people with disabilities what they would like to be involved in and what those activities look like to provide a quality experience for that person.”  

Feedback from the sessions showed they were well received and highly welcome, she said. 

Meyer said providing the training not only exposed organisations to a different way of working and thinking, but also built confidence in operating in a more inclusive way. 

“By providing this training we are looking to build confidence and provide a scaffolded approach for sport and recreation organisations to introduce adapted physical activities into their communities.” 

Rugby Southland Development Officer Peter Firth said the sessions were a good way to demonstrate how games and sports could include more children. 

“It was good to see how simple (you) can make the games and sports to include the kids. (It was) good to try things from their perspective.” 

YMCA OSCAR Team Leader Melissa Eder also said the session was extremely valuable and had opened up discussions within her organisation. 

“The training around inclusion with Bridget from the Halberg Trust was incredibly valuable to our organisation. It has allowed us to discuss as a group exactly how we are modelling inclusion in our programmes and the proactive steps we can take to make sure any current or future tamariki enrolled in our programmes are able to take part in the full range of activities we offer. It’s also allowing us to see how we can make these games part of our everyday planning and hopefully remove any stigma these children may face before they even enroll.” 

Article added: Monday 05 October 2020