Scottish Disability Sport were delighted to return to Dundee & Angus College for our 9th Tayside Parasport Festival on Wednesday 8th March where we welcomedÂ
56 pupils with either a physical disability, visual or hearing loss from 30 different schools across Angus, Dundee City and Perth & Kinross.
So we can incorporate water sports in our festival, we also delivered a second Parasport day on Saturday 11th March at Perth Leisure Pool where a further 12 pupils took part in Kayaking with Perth Canoe Club and the Scottish Canoe Association and swimming with Dundee City Aquatics and Scottish Swimming.
The Parasport Festival is designed to introduce pupils with a physical disability or visual or hearing loss to try new and exciting sports. It has been identified that these groups are significantly under-represented when it comes to participating in weekly sport or physical activity.
Our event was supported by 24 sports coaching and development students from Dundee & Angus College who did a fantastic job encouraging and supporting the pupils throughout the day to ensure everyone felt at ease and participated to the best of their ability.
The day started with an introduction from Scottish Disability Sport Tayside Regional Manager Graeme Doig, followed by athlete talk from Shayne Humphries who shared his sporting experiences and achievements at the Dundee Dragons Wheelchair Sports Club and previous Parasport Festivals to hopefully inspire and relax other pupils, especially those attending for the first time.
In the morning session, pupils enjoyed five different sports including football and Goalball delivered by coaches from Dundee United Para-sports club, powerchair football with Tayside Dynamos, Judo with tayside Judo Club, badminton with Badminton Scotland.
Pupils with a visual impairment got a chance to play goalball which is a Paralympic sport specifically for people with a visual impairment and was great fun to be involved in.
The afternoon session included boccia with Darren Thomson from Leisure and Culture Dundee and Scottish Boccia, wheelchair basketball and rugby with the fantastic coaches from Dundee Dragons and run, jump and throw activities with @Scottish Athletics which included a Frame Running demonstration from Perth Strathtay Harriers athlete Rosie Randall.
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.Â
The day also included a parent / teacher engagement workshop and guest tour involving regional and local councillors, sport, health and education officers who had the opportunity to watch everyone in action.
Thank you to all involved in the day for making it such a positive experience for all.
We are currently contacting everyone who took part to support them into weekly participation with the sports they enjoyed.
For more information on disability sport in Tayside, please contact graeme.doig@scottishdisabilitysport.com.
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