#5: Goal Ball in ASEAN Para Games 2022 and Inclusive Sports

What led you to your involvement in Goalball?

Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) approached me to support the first players with visual impairment to prepare for the APG 2015 in Singapore. I did not expect to stay on with the role for so long! It was somewhat unsettling to observe so many issues to be resolved for sports in the disability space. For example, many persons with disabilities still have irrational fears about sports participation, and in a way, I felt obligated to stay on to help. 

I thought the Facebook post on reflections on your experience as a goalball coach at the recent APG provided some relevant insights on the current state of inclusive sports in Singapore. Could you share more about the journey in introducing goal ball in Singapore or preparing your team for the Goalball competition?

Preparing the players to think and behave like athletes is perhaps my most challenging task. Most of the enabled national athletes I support as a performance coach already have a baseline of psychological and physical attributes, and it is my job to help push them to a higher level of performance. However, most of the goalball players in my team fall below this baseline and more than a couple have a history of mental health issues. We failed to qualify for the 2017 APG because one of the players had to pull out due to depression. I have to manage my expectations and try to meet them where they are, which is easier said than done. For example, there are players who I have to teach how to jog and walk backwards. 

Additionally, I did not have enough players. The five women that went to the recent APG are all I have in my team. Some persons with low vision/partially sighted are eligible to play Goalball but are reluctant to be associated with a para-sport or think that the sport is too dangerous. PE teachers can help us with this by informing us of any students with low vision at your school who might be keen on taking up a team sport! 

Objectively speaking, we can’t fault the players for being who they are. The whole biopsychosocial environment plays a big part in shaping their attitudes and physical development. Taking that into consideration, I am incredibly proud of the girls for overcoming so many personal challenges and fears to become the first women’s para-sports team to qualify (being the host nation in 2015 does not count) and medal at the ASEAN Para games. 

What are your thoughts about adapted PE and inclusive PE? 

PE is intended to be inclusive. We adapt games and activities to engage enabled students with different abilities. Adapting lessons to engage persons with disabilities is an extension of this. Of course, there is a need to learn more about the various disability groups which may or may not be covered at NIE/NTU. 

What can PE Teachers or schools do to help our students and even the public better appreciate inclusive sports?

I reckon with adaptation, any sport can be inclusive and organizing unified competitions with sports such as Goalball can be a great way to foster inclusion. Specifically, it is a meaningful way for students with disabilities to foster friendships with their enabled peers and for the latter to look past their disabilities and see them as a person.

Note: 

Hansen Bay is a coach developer for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), national goalball coach and performance psychologist with the Singapore Golf Association and Valor Performance. You can reach him at https://coachhansen.com.sg/