Back to News headlines

Tweet   

A friendly, upbeat seminar at Doncaster AC filled the knowledge gap and helped club officials, coaches and parents with techniques on how to make progress with their disabled athletes.  Everyone learned something new, and everyone got to participate and share experiences and challenges. Add to that a free lunch too, and it was altogether a great success.

Diana Stanger, coach at Doncaster AC and Shelley Holroyd, the Disability Athletics Support Officer for England Athletics North, were on hand to offer insight in to the classification system, what the numbers mean and how to get classified, a topic which was popular.

The day started with Diana and Shelley explaining the difference between the numbers, what impairment groups existed, the differences in the CP classification along with signs and characteristics that the athletes may be injured or in pain.  Many of the coaches and parents who attended had never been privy to the information before so it was a lot to take in. The topic of Learning Disabilities was also popular as some of the athletes in attendance were LD athletes.  Information was given to the parents of the athletes so they could contact the relevant governing body for further information. This led nicely to the pathway for disabled athletes and how they can achieve standards and enter competitions something which is important for the development of the athletes and the chance to compete against others.

In the afternoon Les Grant led an Inclusive Athletics 365 session where coaches and parents could ask questions and observe the young athletes taking part in the session. This was an eye opener to some of the parents but they thoroughly enjoyed the session. During the 365 session Diana and Shelley were both on hand to answer any questions and follow up on previous questions which related to the session itself. The athletes were also vocal and were even more so when BBC Radio Sheffield arrived to interview them.

At the end of the day everyone enjoyed it and the coaches were looking forward to the first UKA/EA Talent Identification Day in October.

	England Athletics Online store Click here to visit the Official England Athletics online store. Wear official England Athletics clothing. All 'profits' made are reinvested into the development of athletics in England

Northern Power Grid – the company that owns and operates the electricity distribution networks in Yorkshire, northern Lincolnshire and the North-east - is proud to support England Athletics through its corporate sponsorship programme.  The company are proud to sponsor the “Get Switched on to Athletics” programme which aims to help aspiring athletes from the region reach their full potential and follow their dream to compete in the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

You can visit Northern Power Grid’s England Athletics micro-site, which includes interviews with some of the region’s young athletes, training plans and a body mass index (BMI) calculator, by visiting http://athletics.northernpowergrid.com/page/index.cfm