Vision Sports Ireland has created a new course that is designed to educate coaches, volunteers and teachers on vision impairment and provide them with the knowledge and competence to adapt sports to make them accessible for participants who are blind and vision impaired.

The course will run for the first time next month and is supported by Sport Ireland Coaching. It was launched this week at the Sport Ireland Campus by Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy and Paralympic Cyclist Martin Gordon.

“I would encourage as many coaches, volunteers, teachers, Local Sports Partnerships and National Governing Bodies of Sport to undertake the training and to help make sport accessible for all,” said Treacy.

“Making sport accessible to everyone is a key priority of the Government’s National Sport Policy. This Sport Ireland Coaching accredited training will increase awareness of visual impairment and support the adaption of all sports to be more inclusive. Vision Sports Ireland are to be commended for the development of this innovative training course and I wish them every success with its rollout over the coming weeks.”

According to the 2016 census, there are 54,810 people in the Republic of Ireland and a further 8,000 in Northern Ireland living with a vision impairment or blindness.

Vision Sports Ireland supports all people in Ireland who are blind or have a vision impairment to participate and be actively involved in sport and exercise of their choice.

Athletes like Jason Smyth, Katie George Dunlevy and Martin Gordon have excelled at international and Paralympic Games level and brought the issue of vision impairment in sport to the fore.

“This really is quite a unique training opportunity for coaches, volunteers and teachers to step into a new realm of sporting opportunity or to perhaps step out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves to engage with blind or visually impaired people in exploring new ways of participating in physical exercise,” said Gordon.

“It will open up all the enjoyment and pleasure that sport and an active lifestyle brings. For me I feel this training will give people the confidence they might not have had previously when it comes to training or coaching people with a disability such as a visual impairment, it has the potential to unlock so much opportunity and talent at all levels of sport.”

“We are delighted to launch the Vision Sports Awareness Training which is the foundation level on our new Training and Education Framework,” said Pádraig Healy National Sports Development Manager with Vision Sports Ireland.

“The course is aimed at increasing awareness in the community of vision impairment and the various sports and adaptations available to support individuals with vision loss to be active. The certified one-hour online course is aimed at teachers, coaches, volunteers and parents and we are very excited for its rollout.”

 

 

Sport for Business Perspective:

Empowering coaches who are willing to stretch themselves, bring the power of encouragement into the mainstream. This course, available to all, will allow for visually impaired participants to take part in adapted sessions within the heart of a club and not just within the environment of their impairment. Yes, it will be challenging for all but it will ultimately lead to a better understanding on both sides.

 

 

 

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