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NORTHERN SOUL
Disability SportsNorthern Ireland (DSNI) is an excellent example of an organisation able to satisfy the varying needs of novice and elite sportspeople alike. Director, Kevin O’Neill spoke with Able about the next steps.
HOW DOES A CLUB BECOME A MEMBER OF DSNI? Membership of DSNI is open to any group out there which is actively supporting disabled people to become involved in sport. We will support clubs in whatever way we can, whether that’s through training, supporting events, or securing funding from various sources.
CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT DSNI? DSNI was set up 10 years ago as an amalgamation of the various disability governing bodies of sport recognised by Sport Northern Ireland. The new unifi ed organisation was recognised as the key development agency responsible for getting disabled people active at all levels of sport. What we learned very quickly after our launch was that the main demand for our services was from the average disabled person who just wanted to use sport as a way of becoming physically active, to become healthier and to enjoy the social benefi ts of sport.
WHAT CAN DISABLED PEOPLE EXPECT DSNI TO GET INVOLVED IN? Our mission statement is to create opportunities for people
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with disabilities to get involved in sport at the level of their choice. What that means on the ground is that, last year, about 12,000 people benefi ted from our programme in some way. That’s everything from people taking part in events and participation initiatives to education programmes. We also support the 17 athletes ‘elite’ performers competing at a high enough standard to receive Sport NI lottery funding.
WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR SPORTS FOR PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED IN? It’s just what you’d expect; it’s the sports that are popular in the mainstream – swimming, walking, soccer and target games like kurling and boccia are probably the most popular activities. Outside of that there are 10 focus sports which we concentrate on. These are the sports that we feel offer the greatest opportunities. They are athletics, archery, badminton, boccia, cycling, swimming, sailing, soccer, table tennis and wheelchair basketball.
HOW DOES SOMEONE APPROACH YOU? They can contact us at our Belfast offi ce and we will let them know what specifi c disability sports opportunities are available in their area. Wherever possible we encourage disabled people to try to access opportunities in their local mainstream clubs where they can enjoy sport alongside their friends and family.
WHICH SQUAD ARE MOST OF YOUR ELITE ATHLETES AIMING TO BE PART OF? There are currently 17 talented athletes who receive Sport NI lottery funding. They’re either managed by us or their
“What that means on the ground is that last year about 12,000 people benefi ted from our programme in some way.”
mainstream governing body of sport. Because of Northern Ireland’s unique historical and political position, anyone from Northern Ireland can compete for Ireland or Great Britain. For a range of reasons the vast majority tend to go the Irish route. So, in Beijing, there were eight paralympians from Northern Ireland but just one was on the British squad – Karen Cromie, the adapted rower. The other seven, including gold medalists Michael McKillop and Jason Smyth, were in the Irish squad.
So in terms of performance sport, we are doing well pro rata compared to other parts of the British Isles!
More:
www.dsni.co.uk
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