Sporting chances

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Issue: 21 July 2010
Author: Graham clews

Graham Clews talks to those looking for sporting talent among people with disabilities

Paediatric physios, neuro physios, amputee specialists, spinal cord physios and physiotherapists from many other branches of the profession can all play a part in uncovering potential medal winners among disabled athletes, and encouraging people with disabilities to enjoy competitive sport.

Penny Broomhead, an amputation and prosthetic rehabilitation specialist, who works with British paralympic athletes, says physiotherapists are ideally placed to talent-spot potential champions as part of their everyday treatment and rehabilitation of patients.

ParalympicsGB has been running a series of events to identify potential world-beaters in paralympic sports at London 2012 and beyond. And Penny Broomhead says that athletes recovering from serious injury, and very active people such as injured soldiers, can move into disabled sport and receive a huge help with their rehabilitation.

She says amputees she has recently worked with can be inspired by the chance to compete in paralympic sport, and it can be a ‘total morale booster’.

‘It can look like it is nothing to do with rehabilitation, but in fact it is the most amazing rehab tool,’ she says.

Exciting rewards

Penny Broomhead approaches disabled sport from a disability perspective, not a sports perspective, focusing on treating the person’s disability instead of treating them as an elite athlete. And she says it is not just potential world champion disabled athletes who can benefit from working with physios to enjoy sport.

Several organisations  provide the help to both physios and potential athletes that is needed.

Parasport is a joint initiative between the British Paralympic Association and the financial advisory firm Deloitte. It works to identify and support talented disabled sports people at a grassroots level.

Although at the elite end of disability sport, it aims to ensure that all disabled people can enjoy competitive sport at whatever level is appropriate for them.

It works with physiotherapists and others to bring potential disabled sportspeople, clubs, coaches and volunteers together.

Its Playground to Podium scheme aims to support talented young disabled athletes to get to the top in their sport.

Disability Sports Events provides participation events for disabled people with all impairments. It works at both grassroots and elite level.

At whatever level physios work with patients to introduce them to disabled sport, it will reward both parties, Penny Broomhead believes.

‘It’s very exciting for physiotherapists, and a great challenge for them to use all of their skills,’ she says.

ParalympicsGB has uncovered a number of talented athletes through its Paralympic Potential days, but the focus has now moved beyond London 2012.

Shaun McKeown, a cyclist, hopes to compete in 2012, and he has just been selected for the world paracycling championships in Canada next month.

He was identified during a talent-spotting session in Sheffield in 2009, and at another session in the same city that year, Samantha Scowen was spotted as a rower. She has already competed for Britain and is hoping to make the team GB at the Paralympics in London.

A spokeswoman for ParalympicGB says: ‘Our more recent talent days have focused less on identifying athletes for London in 2012 and more on identifying possible athletes for our winter paralympic team for Sochi in Russia in 2014 and summer team for Rio de Janeiro in 2016.’

Potential athletes who want to take part in a talent-spotting day must fill out a screening questionnaire,  available from the ParalympicGB website about six to eight weeks before the day. ParalympicGB’s performance team then assess each applicant’s form and successful applicants are invited to the Paralympic Potential day.

 On the day, the applicants are put into groups and then the groups rotate, giving each person the opportunity to have a trial at each sport. Coaches from each sport provide an introduction and run a basic skills session. Participants also get the opportunity to hear about ParalympicsGB’s Parasport programme, which  points people with a disability to high-quality sports clubs in their area. There is also  a stand where those taking part can find out more about leading healthy lives through diet, activity and sport.
After the day, ParalympicsGB puts each sport in contact with the attendees that they have identified and wish to invite for further trials. fl

Further information

The next ParalympicsGB Paralympic Potential dates will be announced on www.paralympics.org.uk/default.asp

Click on Talent ID