By William Moncrieff, Communications Apprentice
The Highland Parasport Festival took place on Saturday 3rd February in the Craig Maclean Leisure Centre, Grantown-on-Spey. The event provided children and young people the opportunity to try a wide variety of sports including boccia, wheelchair basketball and swimming.
Highland’s regional development manager, Kathryn Talbot-Heigh, organised the Parasport Festival – her first since joining Scottish Disability Sport back in September 2023. Kathyrn’s nerves were quickly put aside as she saw what joy the activities were giving the participants.
“There were a couple of kids that were looking a bit nervous when they came in, and I am now looking around the hall and they are all smiling and totally enjoying it”, said Kathyrn during the morning session on Saturday.
As the development manager for the Highlands, Kathryn believes that it is extremely important to provide rural communities with a range of physical activity and sport opportunities.
Throughout Saturday, Kathryn was approached by several parents that shared this sentiment, saying that, “if this had been in Inverness their children wouldn’t have gone to it, as it would just be a step too far for them”.
Another parent explained that although they had been in contact with sport governing bodies, it could be challenging for them to attend events as, “a lot of it takes place in the central belt, so although we are part of a community we don’t get the chance to engage very often”.
The diversity of sports that participants could try, was a significant contributing factor for attracting children and young people. Participants could engage table tennis, curling, wheelchair basketball, swimming, boccia and dance.
One participant called Samantha, who is a keen basketball and tennis player, said that she was: “really looking forward to trying out Boccia for the first time”.
Kathryn was supported by several clubs that provided expert coaching and guidance on the day, including Brian Stevens from the Inverness City Lions wheelchair basketball club. He said, “I absolutely love these come and try days”.
“The main thing is they [participants] have all enjoyed themselves, there are a lot of smiles and lots of laughter”, continued Brain.
The Parasport Festivals provide an opportunity to reach more people and increase awareness about disability sport. One parent explained that their child had been, “reluctant to attend anything with a disability focus to it”. Saturday proved to be a was a gamechanger for her son, explaining that he, “has really enjoyed his day, and hopes to continue participating in the sports that he tried today.”
There were many staff and volunteers who played a vital part in the organising, smooth running and delivery of the event. Fiona Green, a colleague of Kathryn at Highland Disability Sport that helped out on Saturday, said that she thought, “it’s really important to allow young children to have the opportunity to try activities that they haven’t had the chance to try before, in a great, safe environment for them to all come together”.
Fiona also talked about the excitement of this event “becoming a regular fixture” in the future, explaining further that it would be great to, “see just how much this type of event can grow and see all the different clubs which we can, to get involved”.
To get involved or find out more about your local Parasport Festival, visit here.