Active Disability Ireland has launched a new suite of training and education workshops designed to strengthen disability inclusion across Irish sport and physical activity.

The new framework was unveiled at the Sport Ireland Campus on Tuesday, bringing together representatives from sport, health, education, and the community sector to address the shared challenge of making sporting opportunities more accessible and inclusive.

Three new self-paced online workshops have been introduced covering Disability Inclusion, Inclusive Fitness and Autism in Sport.

They have been developed in response to growing demand from coaches, volunteers, parents and professionals for practical education that can help bridge the gap between people with disabilities who want to become more active and those responsible for delivering sport and physical activity.

The launch comes against the backdrop of a persistent participation gap between people with and without disabilities, identified within national sports policy as ranging from 20 to 32 percentage points.

Active Disability Ireland CEO Brenda O’Donnell said the launch represented an important step in building greater confidence and capacity across the sporting system.

“Today marks an important milestone for Active Disability Ireland and for the continued development of our Training and Education Framework,” she said.

“These new workshops represent a significant investment in building the knowledge, confidence and capacity of those delivering sport and physical activity opportunities across Ireland.”

“By making high-quality, accessible education available across the sector, we are helping to create environments where people with disabilities can participate, belong and thrive.”

The courses are available through the Active Disability Ireland Learning Hub and have been designed to be accessible, interactive and practical, with participants receiving certification on completion.

Importantly, each workshop has been co-designed with people with disabilities, placing lived experience at the centre of the programme.

Consultation and collaboration throughout their development were intended to ensure the material reflects the actual experiences and requirements of those the initiative is designed to support.

Building Capacity

Sport Ireland Coaching Development Manager Declan O’Leary highlighted the importance of education within the broader national inclusion agenda.

“Building Capacity is one of the five pillars of the Sport Ireland Disability Inclusion in Sport Statement of Commitment and Action,” he said.

“The online workshops that Active Disability Ireland are launching today will contribute to Building Capacity in the sector by allowing volunteers and professionals to learn at a pace, place and time that suits them as individuals.”

He said the aim was ultimately to enable coaches, leaders and instructors to provide more positive and meaningful sporting experiences for people with disabilities.

Xcessible Gold Launched

The event also saw the official launch of the Xcessible Gold standard, the highest level in a pathway that supports National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships in embedding disability inclusion throughout their organisations.

The Gold standard is intended to recognise organisations that have moved beyond individual programmes or initiatives and made inclusion a core part of their structures, culture and day-to-day operations.

Oisín Jordan, Xcessible Panel Chairperson at Special Olympics Ireland, said the ambition was to ensure that people with disabilities could access quality sporting opportunities within their own communities and feel that they belonged.

“The Gold Xcessible Award is the final step in an organisation’s inclusive journey that recognises NGBs and LSPs that are showing real leadership in making inclusion part of everyday practice,” he said.

Learning and Taking the Next Steps

Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business was MC for the launch and guided two panels of speakers through what the training and awards mean, and how they can have real impact across sport.

“Today was one of learning and taking the next steps towards a truly inclusive sporting and wider society,” he said.

“It won’t happen overnight, but it might not happen at all without taking the time to be purposeful about how we can educate ourselves in the areas that make us champions of inclusion — in the approaches we make, the facilities we build, the language we use and the way we hold ourselves to account.”

 

Sport for Business Perspective

There is an important distinction between saying that sport is open to everyone and ensuring that the people delivering it have the skills and confidence to make that ambition real.

Facilities, funding and participation programmes are all important, but the experience of someone entering a club, gym or sporting environment is often determined by the person standing in front of them.

Giving coaches, volunteers and administrators accessible training they can complete on their own time removes one barrier to improving that experience.

The co-design element is equally important. Inclusion programmes are at their strongest when people with disabilities are involved in shaping them rather than simply being the intended recipients.

The launch of Xcessible Gold also raises the bar for sporting bodies.

The challenge now moves from having an inclusion policy or delivering occasional programmes towards demonstrating that inclusion is embedded throughout an organisation.

That is a higher standard, but one that Irish sport increasingly needs to regard as normal rather than exceptional.

 

 

 

 

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Image Credit: Active Disability Ireland

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