My PVG finally came back so I was able to volunteer at the Parasport Festival at The Peak. The event was for children and teenagers from primary one to sixth year that had disabilities and gave them the opportunity to get involved in some sports. The sports included badminton, boccia, athletics, football, curling and swimming.

I was placed with the red team and we went to badminton first. At badminton I played with a girl called Lexi and we done some fun badminton drills with balloons and soft balls, from this she then built confidence to use a shuttle cock and her shots started to really improve, she was so proud of herself.

We then moved around as a group and participated in the different sports that were on offer. Every sport had alternative methods for each disability. For example, in athletics for the long jump for those who were in a wheelchair instead of jumping would see how far their wheelchair could go in one big push. My favourite sport was the curling, despite the fact it was absolutely freezing we got to join in with the kids and play games. It was fun to be on the ice and the kids really enjoyed it.

Me having a shot at Curling

At the end of the day for the last 20 minutes there was a Q & A with two parasport athletes. The athletes shared their experiences and discussed some of their achievements which included Olympic medals. A part of their talk which really struck me was that they shared that they never had any opportunities to participate in sport when growing up and both were unable to participate in PE in school. I found it very enlightening when reflecting on the day and seeing how many opportunities there are for children and young people with disabilities compared to 20/30 years ago.

My classmates and I with Craig and the Parasport Athletes

Overall the day was a great experience and I walked away feeling very educated and enlightened on disability sports.