Ireland’s Paralympics team at London 2012 was the most successful group of athletes Ireland has ever sent out into international competition. Topping their performance next year in Rio will be a big ask but the numbers of those willing to try swelled last week when the Cerebral Palsy soccer team qualified for the plane to Brazil through success at the World Championships.
Having a team adds to a travelling party in many ways and there was genuine delight among those who manage and support Paralympic events here at the success of the team, managed by former Coventry City professional Barry Ferguson.
It brings the wider soccer community closer to the Olympic and Paralympic fold and the FAI support for programmes for players with Cerebral Palsy will benefit from the greater level of awareness and focus that Rio will bring.
It has already had an energising impact on existing Paralympics Ireland sponsors with Mondelez hosting a community and staff five a side tournament with the team in Dublin on July 24th.
It has long been a challenge for the various Paralympic sports to secure coverage between the major four year cycle of the Paralympic games but in the past three years since London that has changed.
The soccer team generated mainstream coverage across all the major media including features on the RT News while online sites including Balls.ie ran stories highlighting the top five goals from the tournament.
The emphasis now will switch to the potential of our Paralympic swimmers who travel to Glasgow between July 13th and 19th for the IPC World Championships and the chance to secure more places at Rio next year.
The swim team is strongly supported by overall main sponsor Allianz and it is likely with the increased success and likely size of the travelling party that other main sponsors for Paralympic sport will be coming on board soon.
Watch out for news of Paralympic sport and Special Olympics being part of our Autumn Series of Sport for Business Round Table events where we will focus on the power of Ability.
