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DISABLED SPORT CALENDAR 2009-2010
Football
7-a-side Introduced to BT Paralympic World Cup
Leading
North West football players were today on hand to help welcome
Football 7-a-side to the 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup. Manchester
City goalkeeper Shay Given and Burnley FC players Wade Elliott and
Michael Duff took part in a sport demonstration at the Manchester
Arndale with members of the British Football 7-a-side team to
highlight the sport.
In a year which sees the Football world compete for ultimate honours
at the FIFA World Cup, the annual BT Paralympic World Cup
acknowledges the sporting prowess of elite disability players in the
Football 7-a-side game, which is an adaption of the sport for
athletes with cerebral palsy and invites teams from Great Britain,
the Netherlands, USA and the Republic of Ireland to compete.
Said Shay Given said: “The BT Paralympic World Cup has become a well
known event in Manchester and it’s fantastic to see Football
7-a-side introduced as a new sport. The team has a lot of talent and
we wish the GB squad competing in the event the best of luck and
will keep an eye on their progress through the competition.”
The sport will add an exciting new dimension to the BT Paralympic
World Cup in a city renowned for its Football heritage and its
support for disability Football leagues. The event will be held in
Manchester from 25 to 31 May.
The countries have been selected to align with a new team challenge
which sees Great Britain take on teams from Europe, the Americas and
the Rest of the World, competing across four sports for the BT
Paralympic World Cup trophy. Football 7-a-side joins Wheelchair
Basketball, Swimming and Athletics, which continue as events for the
sixth consecutive year.
Following a review of the event and to enable other Paralympic
sports to receive key competition and exposure in the build up to
London 2012, Track Cycling will not feature in 2010.
ParalympicsGB Chief Executive Phil Lane has welcomed the new sport
and team format and said: “We are delighted to have Football
7-a-side included in the BT Paralympic World Cup, which we believe
will be the World Cup to watch this year.
“An exciting new team format has also been introduced to promote
elite disability sport on the world stage and will give the
opportunity for the GB team to demonstrate their sporting abilities
and take on the best of the rest of the world as we increasingly
look forward to the prospect of a home Paralympic Games in 2012. I
know that Manchester will again do a fantastic job to stage what has
proven to be a crucial event for leading Paralympic athletes.”
British Football 7-a-side team captain Jordan Raynes said: “I’m very
excited that Football 7-a-side has been included in the BT
Paralympic World Cup. I live and play in Manchester, where we have a
strong following for our county disability league and to now have
international competition in my home city means so much to me. To
have an elite event outside of the Paralympic Games with other
leading Football nations will be imperative to the team’s
progression as we look forward to the 2012 Paralympic Games and look
to build on our seventh place finish in Beijing in 2008.”
The BT Paralympic World Cup is the largest annual international
multi-sport competition in elite sport for persons with a
disability. Over 400 athletes from 31 different countries are
expected to participate at two world class venues, the Manchester
Regional Arena and Manchester Aquatics Centre.
The BT Paralympic World Cup is sanctioned by the International
Paralympic Committee (IPC), CPISRA and the International Wheelchair
Basketball Federation (IWBF) and supported by ParalympicsGB, the FA,
BT, Manchester City Council and the Northwest Regional Development
Agency (NWDA).
Peter Mearns, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at
the NWDA said: “The BT Paralympic World Cup makes a significant
contribution of more than £1million to the regional economy every
year and in 2010 the competition will be bigger and better than ever
before. As a region with a passion for Football it is excellent to
see that Football is a new inclusion this year and I hope that even
more visitors will be encouraged to come.”
The BBC, the official televised partner to the event, will again
broadcast highlights and live coverage from the Manchester Aquatics
Centre on Monday 31 May 2010 on BBC Television.
BT’s four year sponsorship runs up to and includes the 2012 BT
Paralympic World Cup. BT’s rights include extensive branding at all
events, tickets and other additional marketing rights. UK Sport has
this year withdrawn funding for the event after a review of their
investment for major events, which now sits with individual sports
rather than multi sport competitions.
Tickets for the BT Paralympic World Cup will be available from March
2010. For more information, please visit
www.btparalympicworldcup.com.
The event schedule will see Athletics on 25 May, Football 7-a-side
on 26-29 May and Wheelchair Basketball on 27-30 May, all at the
Manchester Regional Arena and Swimming at the Manchester Aquatics
Centre on 30-31 May.
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For full information, schedule and results ...
The latest news & videos ...
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Paralympic ski stars go for gold as their funds are heading downhill
fast
IN fewer than five weeks time, the Winter Paralympics will
get underway in Vancouver.
About 600 athletes from 45 countries will compete in five sports
during the Games. Among them will be Britain's Paralympic team
consisting of five mixed wheelchair curlers and an Alpine skiing
team.
For those taking part, it will be one of the greatest moments of
their lives, at a time when disabled sport is becoming increasingly
popular, both among competitors and spectators.
Over the past decade or so, athletes like Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson
and David Roberts have helped to raise the profile of disabled
sport, culminating in the Paralympic Games in Beijing two years ago
when Britain's team outstripped expectations to win 102 medals,
finishing second only to China in the final table. Millions of TV
viewers watched a string of emotional gold medal performances from
the British team, known as Paralympics GB, which has sent
expectations soaring for London's 2012 Games.
But these days sporting success is all about investment, even the
Olympics.UK Sport, the elite sports agency, has been awarded more
than £260m to spend on Olympic sports between 2009 and 2013, while
Paralympic sport has been allocated over £47m.
This is big money, particularly given the economic situation, but it
has to cover everything from archery and cycling to judo and
swimming. And when it comes to Alpine sports, funds are limited.
Olympic sport received £5.8m for this year's Winter Games from UK
Sport's World Class Performance Programme, while Paralympic sport
was given just £650,000.
Paralympic skier Jane Sowerby is one of Britain's best medal hopes
in Vancouver, but even for elite athletes like her, finding the
money to compete in major events is a constant struggle.
"We do get some government funding, which is better than nothing,
but it's such an expensive sport it doesn't cover half the training
costs. It is really tough, I've spent every single penny I have and
if it wasn't for the support and generosity of family and friends I
wouldn't be able to continue," she says.
One of the biggest problems is that Alpine sports don't have the
same high-profile as athletics, swimming or even cycling, although
Sowerby, who's from Guiseley, near Leeds, believes events like
skiing are becoming more popular in Britain.
"It used to be seen as a bit elitist but with more people taking it
up hopefully there will be more interest in the Winter Olympics,
which is important particularly for disabled skiing because a lot of
people don't know it even exists, I didn't until after my accident."
Sowerby was paralysed from the waist down after falling and breaking
her back in 2003, and has been racing competitively for more than
three years, after taking up the sport following a trip to the
National Sports Centre for the Disabled in the US, organised by The
Back-Up Trust.
But, even in this relatively short space of time, she says that
disabled skiing in Britain is being taken more seriously. "A few
years ago, there were only a couple of members of the team and they
pretty much did it off their own backs. Whereas now we're fortunate
to have the British Paralympic Association behind us and since then
it's a lot more organised."
The standard of competition is rising all the time, she says, and
the key now is to encourage greater public interest. "It's a
fantastic spectator sport, to watch a sit skier flying downhill at
100km an hour is incredible. And if more people become aware of it
then they can't fail to be impressed."
Jo Willoughby is a fellow member of the British Disabled Ski Team.
She, too, has to rely on raising her own money in order to continue
competing. "It gets down to brass tacks at times, it can be a pretty
hand-to-mouth existence," she says candidly. Each year Willoughby
has to raise about £70,000.
She receives a grant worth £12,500 from UK Sport which leaves a
£57,500 shortfall that she has to find elsewhere. "It's not easy and
I'm constantly travelling around giving talks to firms, rotary club
members and local organisations to try and drum up support."
Her skis cost £1,000 a pair and she needs at least eight pairs due
to damage and general wear and tear, while ski waxing and technology
kits cost another £2,000. And then there are the hidden
costs."Because of the extent of my disability I need to have a buddy
with me 24-7 and I have to fund their costs too. I have to pay for
their accommodation, food and travel and for them to be there, so
that's another big cost."
The Barnsley-based skier has been helped in her fund-raising efforts
by Welcome to Yorkshire. "They really came up trumps by providing
money for a van. Before that, we had to fly to places like Germany
and Austria and you're paying £1,000 for all the excess baggage each
time you fly, so having a van has made such a difference."
Although she's extremely grateful for this support, she would like
to see more sponsors backing Britain's disabled athletes. "I was
reading an interview with Jessica Ennis a while back, in which she
was saying how much Sheffield had helped her, and I think it would
be great if more local businesses started supporting more local
athletes because it's fantastic publicity and it raises awareness."
However, it's not only the athletes who suffer financial hardships.
Willoughby says coaches are affected, too. "They would love to work
with their athletes full-time but they can't afford to. A lot of
them work on a volunteer basis and my coach has been doing this for
years. But if we had more coaches working full time it would help us
get more medals in competitions, which raises the profile of the
athletes and attracts more sponsorship."
And herein lies the problem. Countries like Canada, Austria and
Switzerland have a strong Alpine heritage that Britain simply
doesn't possess. Yet, without more investment, we won't be able to
compete with the best.
UK Sport has to juggle a finite pot of money that is handed out to
various sports based around athletes' past performance and future
potential. As Tim Reddish, chairman of Paralympics GB, explains,
priority is given to the best medal prospects. "It seems a bit
brutal, but it's a hierarchy and the better you are, the more likely
you are to get funding."
The British Paralympic Association pays for all the food, kit and
travel of British athletes competing in the both the Summer and
Winter Games. Reddish says the difference between the two of them is
down to profile and points out that Britain will take about a dozen
athletes to Vancouver in March,
while in Beijing, the British swimming team had 35 people competing.
Having said that, Paralympic sport has never been as popular as it
is now, which is why the nternational Paralympic Committee has said
this week that ensuring free TV coverage of the 2012 Paralympics was
"fundamental" to who was chosen to broadcast the Games in the UK.
"Since the early '90s, it's just escalated, says Reddish. "The
turning point was Sydney in 2000 and then in Beijing when Eleanor
Simmonds was up there crying her eyes after winning a gold medal, it
just blew everyone away. There was a media explosion, and what we're
seeing now is the media
starting to look at the athletic performance rather than the
impairment."
"There are challenges regarding funding, and because we are not a
winter sports nation the winter paralympians don't get the same
profile as the summer athletes. So we need to work together with UK
Sport to support our winter paralympic athletes because they have
earned the right to the same
level of exposure."
The Winter Paralympics, March 12-21.
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Calling all Disabled
cyclists in the UK
2010 Disability Circuit Race SeriesBritish Cycling are pleased to
announce the dates of the 2010 Disability Circuit Race Series. The
races will be held on a mixture of circuits used last year. For
example ‘Salt Ayre’ and Hillingdon, as well as new ones including
Sundorne in Shrewsbury and Upavon in Wiltshire.
Round 3 will also incorporate the National Championships at the well
established Horwich Carnival on 20th of June. No stranger to holding
major events, this closed-road town centre race has hosted cycling
events since 1946. Expect thousands lining the street and a carnival
atmosphere!
The series will consist of five rounds and following the success of
last years series, will be held using the same format. However,
there will be a significant change due to the introduction of a new
classification system by the UCI.
This will mean that all riders will be put into new classifications
which will particularly affect LC and CP riders who will now be
combined into the new C Class. The new classifications will be
assigned by British Cycling and to enable us to do this, you will be
asked to supply details about your disability so that you can be
accurately assigned a new category.
The series is aimed both at disabled cyclists who wish to compete
for the first time, or for more experienced disabled riders. Those
with aspirations of riding for the successful Team GB squad are
encouraged to compete as there will development coaches present to
scout for talented riders. If you
are interested in competing at the series or would like further
information, please contact
disability@britishcycling.org.uk for further information.
Round 1:
Saturday 20 March Sundorne Circuit, Shrewsbury. Details
Round 2:
Saturday 29 May – Salt Ayre, Lancashire. Details
Round 3:
(inc. BC National Disability Circuit Champs) Sunday 20 June Horwich,
Lancashire. Details
Round 4:
Sunday 18 July Upavon, Wiltshire. Details
Round 5:
Saturday 25 September Hillingdon, Middlesex. Details
Phil Godfrey, Disability Co-ordinator of British Cycling.
Please
see the British Cycling
web site and get in touch with Phil if you’re interested.
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A national children's charity
is hoping the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games,
which start in Vancouver next month following the Winter Olympics,
will
inspire young people with disabilities to take up new sports.
Caudwell Children is hoping the games will increase interest in its
Enable
Sport programme, which provides specialist equipment to young people
with
disabilities.
The programme was launched in 2008, to show children with
disabilities that
they can take part in a wide range of sports.
Since then it has made hundreds of donations of adapted equipment
for
sports including football, athletics and basketball. It has donated
adapted
wheelchairs for footballers, specialist swimming goggles, ice skates
and
gymnastic equipment.
Ryan Abrahams, aged 14, from Bradley Stoke near Bristol, received a
£5000
powered wheelchair from the programme to allow him to play football
for the
Villa Rockets in Birmingham.
His mother, Mary Abrahams, said: "We were overwhelmed with the
donation
from Caudwell Children.
"Playing with his friends at Villa and doing so well has really
improved
his confidence. The new chair is going to further improve his
independence
and make him an even happier young man."
Now the charity hopes the winter games will increase interest
further, with
children keen to participate in winter sports such as skiing.
Lee Pearson, nine-time para-equestrianism gold medal winner and
Enable
Sport ambassador, said: "International events like this raise the
awareness
of disability sports and hopefully inspire youngsters to take up new
sports
or set themselves goals of competing at the highest level.
"Enable Sport can help these sporting aspirations by providing the
necessary equipment, which can often cost thousands of pounds."
Trudi Beswick, CEO of Caudwell Children, said: "We are not expecting
a rush
of applications for ice wheelchairs and skis but we hope the
achievements
of our Paralympic athletes will inspire some children to see what
sports
they could get involved in.
"The funding for specialist sports equipment through our Enable
Sport
initiative is still available and we want to help more sporting
youngsters
achieve their full potential."
The games in Vancouver will be the 10th Paralympic Winter Games.
About 600
athletes from 45 countries are expected to compete in sports from
alpine
skiing to wheelchair curling.
Caudwell Children provides donations of treatments, therapies and
specialist equipment throughout the UK. To date the charity has
donated
more than £11 million to thousands of children.
For more
information, visit www.caudwellchildren.com.
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NADS
is pleased to announce that the first disabled fans forum of 2010
will take place at Bristol City FC on 26th February 2010. It will
commence at 13.00 for 13.30 and finish at 16.00. Everyone is
welcome.
To book your place please email info@nads.org.uk or call 0845 230
6237 by 5th February with your contact details and any special
requirements you may have.
We will send all attendees further information and directions ahead
of the forum. |
 Gary
Benham's World Cup Blog
Gary is the Head of Communications at the British High Commission in
Pretoria. To keep up to date on what is happening in the run
up to the World Cup 2010 please go to
http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/benham/entry/230_days_to_go_the
We also want to
hear from disabled England fans hoping to go out to South
Africa for the World Cup and if your not going, then why
not. Please drop us a line with your plans or not as the
case may be to the usual address -
info@nads.org.uk. |
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