Bournemouth University has hosted its first Sports Day for visually impaired children this week.
Sixteen children aged 8 to 15 from across Dorset took part in sports including goalball and VI cricket on BU’s Talbot Campus.
The event was organised in partnership with Dr Ben Powis, Senior Lecturer in Sport at BU, and Vision Support Services, part of Dorset Council.
BU Sport Management and Sport Coaching students supported the children throughout the day, helping explain the rules and guiding them in the use of adapted equipment such as a sound ball that contains bells to help players locate it by sound.
Dr Powis said, “Visually impaired people are twice as inactive as sighted people, so it’s really important to hold events like this and provide VI children with the opportunities to try sport early on in their sporting lives. It’s also about making sport as accessible as possible not just for players but also for students studying sport here at BU to learn new techniques in coaching people with diverse abilities and to put those into practice on the field.”
Fourteen-year-old Hayden, who is visually impaired, said, “I play mixed ability football for my local team and I’ve just been accepted into the regional try out, which if I’m successful I might get to play for the England Paralympic football team in the future.”
The children also met BU student and VI England Cricket team Vice-Captain David Howells, who shared his own journey into sport and led a cricket session in the sports hall.
BU plans to run the event annually and continue teaching inclusive coaching as part of its sport degrees.