Disability Sport
Australian Sports Commission
Ever thought about sport as an option but have been a bit reluctant or fearful about taking that first step? Perhaps you are already involved but want to have a go at other sports, or try something different, such as coaching or officiating? Similarly, if you are an administrator, a coach, a volunteer or professional in the sports industry it’s likely that, at some stage, you have been scratching your head about how you can attract more people into the sport you are passionate about. After all, there are so many alternatives these days and many people are time poor and cash strapped.
Sports CONNECT is about all of this. It’s about creating sporting options for people with disabilities. This is how we define inclusive sport – that sport should be about having access to a wide range of options – thus providing people with disabilities with choices. It’s about finding ways for sport to include more people with disabilities in what they do – in whatever role people with disabilities chose. It’s about helping disability groups understand the many benefits of sport and about demystifying how difficult it is to get involved. Essentially, it is about ensuring those all important links between sports and disability groups are effective and result in more people with disabilities being involved in sport.
Sports CONNECT is a national program coordinated by the Disability Sport Unit, with the aim to ensure that all Australians with disabilities have opportunities to participate in sporting activities at the level of their choice.
To achieve this, the Disability Sport Unit has committed to a national framework:
The objectives of the DSU are:
- to provide direct practical assistance to national sports organisations (NSOs) to assist them with the inclusion of people with disabilities in both disability and non-disability specific sport (supply)
- to provide direct links between people with disabilities and sport (demand)
- to coordinate the disability sport network, who work with NSOs, SSOs and other stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the Supply/Demand framework.
