Friday September 9th 2016
Arriva Trains Wales insport series
Following on from the success of the London 2012 Paralympic games, Wales has seen a significant increase in participation and understanding of inclusive sport. With Rio 2016 Paralympics starting on September 7th Disability Sport Wales are preparing for a new raft of participants, keen to try a new sport.
On Friday September 9th and Saturday September 10th, Disability Sport Wales are offering disabled people and their family, carers and friends the perfect opportunity to try over 25 sports, with a range of adapted equipment. For the 13th Year they are holding the Arriva Trains Wales insport Series (previously Wheelchair Sports Spectacular).
This event attracts annually over 500 disabled people of all ages and ability levels, with a wide range of impairments. Taking place at Cardiff Met University, National Indoor Athletics Centre (NIAC) in Cyncoed from 10am to 4pm each day, this popular event is free to all. This year the ParalympicsGB Carnival is also visiting the event as it tours around six locations in the UK.
The two day event is supported by Local Authorities across the South Wales region and National Governing Bodies of sport, and offers children, young people and adults the opportunity to take part in a range of activities. Each day various sports will be showcased, all run by club coaches. They include archery, football, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, bowls, cycling, tennis, wheelchair rugby, karate and wheelchair racing plus many more. New sports for this year are rugby, goalball, judo, and gymnastics, making it the biggest insport series ever!
Designed to spot those who might have a burgeoning talent or those who simply want to take part in sport and have fun - there are sports to suit everyone, including those with high levels of disability. As well as having the opportunity to try the sports, participants can also find out about local clubs that they can join.
This is exactly what 3 year old Cameron and his family did, and now aged 7 he is still attending 3 sports clubs every week and having great fun. Last September John Prosser attended the event and met Welsh Rowing and in May he found himself winning gold and silver medals at the Invictus Games.
Phil Pratt first attended the event with his dad when he was 11. Now ten years later Phil says “I would encourage anyone with a disability to go to this event. It’s always great fun and you meet so many great clubs and coaches. I tried so many sports and loved wheelchair basketball. I joined the club that I met there and now I am thrilled to be in the GB Team for the Rio 2016 Paralympics”
Disability Sport Wales Community Partner Arriva Trains Wales is the principal sponsor again this year alongside the Cardiff Bay Rotary Club who are the charity partner of the event for the seventh year in a row, both organisations demonstrating huge commitment towards disability and inclusive sport. Additional support has also been provided by Sinclair VW Cardiff, Cardiff Met University, Cardiff Council, Cardiff University, Snowdrop Independent Living, and Roma Sport.
Pippa Britton, Chair of Disability Sport Wales said "I would like to thank our Community Partner Arriva Trains Wales, Cardiff Bay Rotary Club and our other partners for supporting this event which has now become an important date in the Disability Sport Wales calendar. Over the years many thousands of people have benefitted from this event by being introduced to new sports and clubs which they have gone on to join. Many of the sports that we showcase are excellent examples of inclusive activity whilst others offer the opportunity to engage specific Paralympic or disability specific programmes. It is important that we continue to keep the profile of disability sport high on everyone's agenda in Wales and this event ticks all the right boxes, ensuring that we continue to maximise opportunities for disabled people to get hooked on sport for life."
All are welcome and anyone can turn up and have a go at as many of the sports as they want to - entry is free.
If you would like any further information or images relating to the event, please contact Laura Jenkins at laura.jenkins@disabilitysportwales.com or call 07794634636
