What alternative sports programs are there for students with disabilities?

The development of fundamental movement and sports skills are just as important to children with disabilities as to ones without them. As the fundamental movement skills develop they form a base for more complex skills that children may or may not be able to use in recreational activities and daily living. Students with disabilities and poorly developed motor skills often cannot participate in physical activities. Some are by choice, others are excluded by their peers, but most lack the capability of being able to function properly physically and mentally. This inactivity can negatively affect a developing child in several ways, especially their physical health. Children with disabilities rarely get the opportunity to get out and get some exercise.
As a requirement senior year of high school I needed to complete forty-eight hours of community service to be eligible graduate. This is how came across becoming an involved volunteer for the Special Olympics Golf Program. Two days a week I met with a group of volunteers at Mt Hood golf course in Melrose. We worked with and guided a group of roughly fifteen to twenty athletes on a weekly basis. We started off each day showing them how to stretch out properly and then gradually moved into teaching basic golf skills. At the end of the summer their hard work paid off, Mt Hood hosts an annual Special Olympics Golf Tournament with an award ceremony and banquet afterwards, several other groups in surrounding areas all come together to participate in the tournament.

The Special Olympics did more than just get me my community service to graduate but it showed me the importance of giving people with disabilities the chance to be part of an organized physical activity. It was also crucial to their health that they got out and able to get some exercise, these are athletes that without this program would not get the opportunity to be part of organized sports events or pretty much any type of physical exercise. These athletes had desires to be able to be involved in something where they did not feel like an outsider. Twice a week these athletes would look forward to coming to their golf lessons, you may think some of them cannot comprehend and take it all in but the warm greetings and eager smiles showed their excitement to be apart of something. It was important that they got these couple hours a week to be involved in an organized activity where they felt like they belonged and did not feel like an outsider. This gave them a regular activity that they were a part of and it was rewarding to be there to guide them along the way. I feel like schools all over should support organizations like the Special Olympics. This would encourage people with disabilities to be able to compete and enjoy themselves in something fun, that’s considered a normal activity, that otherwise they would not of be able to be a part of. The exercise and feeling of involvement allows these kids to forget about their disabilities even if it’s just for a second and get out and enjoy some physical activity. It is a great opportunity for a disabled person to get a chance to participate in an organized program such as this something that they would other wise not get a chance to be a part of.

http://www.specialolympicsma.org/north/local_programs.htm