- The course, which is made up of five modules, seeks to create a space for knowledge and training that facilitates teaching intervention in the sports practice of people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive disabilities.
- The first class was dedicated to sports for people with visual impairments.
- The course is free and the possibility of participating is still open.
Within the framework of the Adapted and Paralympic Sports Training Program, the Municipality of Córdoba began a new initiative aimed at training and improving teachers, students of Physical Education and related careers in addressing people with disabilities through sport.
Comprehensive training in specific sports disciplines promotes adapted, inclusive and Paralympic sport.
This training will reinforce the transformative role of sport in society, promoting social inclusion and improving the quality of life of participants. At the same time, it will provide tools that facilitate teaching intervention in the sporting practice of people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive disabilities, which is crucial to generating equal opportunities.
In addition, communication and coexistence methodologies will be provided to work with people with some type of disability in the sports field.
The course, aimed at teachers, students of physical education and careers related to movement and addressing people with disabilities, covers sports such as football, basketball and tennis for people with intellectual disabilities, as well as recreational activities for children with autism.
Adapted sports such as Quad Rugby, wheelchair basketball, boccia, swimming and water activities for people with reduced mobility are also included. Sports for the blind such as football, basketball, rugby, hockey and goalball will also be included, as well as training on the Special Olympics Argentina (OAS).
In this regard, Juan López, head of the disability area of the Undersecretariat of Sports and Recreation, said: “The important thing about these trainings is to leave a seed, a little knowledge so that later you and those who are interested in investigating and getting involved in this topic of adapted sports, can see the range of adapted sports. The idea is that each of the attendees continue, that this does not simply die with a training certificate, but that they continue.”
In the first of the five meetings, the Municipality Club hosted different activities in which speakers, course participants and teachers had an active participation in both the presentation and the theoretical-practical activities.
The double session began on Friday with the presentation of the event, which was led by a distinguished panel made up of Rubén Whelan (president of the Córdoba Basketball Association), Edgardo Acevedo (journalist specializing in adapted sports) and Juan Domínguez (wheelchair basketball coach).
Also participating were Guadalupe Romero (member of the Argentine Goalball team), María Morales (swimming coach for athletes with Down syndrome) and Silva Vélez Funes (physical education teacher and representative of the Comprehensive Development Center for people with disabilities).
The next day, the proposal revolved around sports activities for people with visual disabilities: basketball for the blind, football for the blind, goalball and hockey for the blind were the topics of the first module.
The novelty at the beginning of the course was the incorporation of hockey for people with visual disabilities, an unprecedented event in Argentina, with a talk by Gonzalo Abbas Hachaché, who also spoke about football for the blind.
“Being able to develop and show it is so that more people join in and thus multiply it so that it grows,” said Abbas Hachaché, who was in charge of the practical part of hockey with two players from Los Guerreros, a blind soccer team from the Club Municipalidad.
“We are very pleased with this first presentation so that future teachers or coaches can work in this sport that is starting in Córdoba. At the moment, there is no hockey for people with visual disabilities anywhere in the world. We are looking for it to develop, generate and multiply the number of people working in 5-a-side hockey for people with visual disabilities,” he concluded.
In turn, the talk on basketball for blind people was given by Professor Walter Garrone, who demonstrated his relevance and his great ability to transfer knowledge.
“Fortunately, we are in a basketball course for the blind, trying to get teachers and students to incorporate and know what this is about. It is another way to be able to spread it and that over time it becomes a sport that can be practiced throughout the country,” said Garrone,
“Hopefully one day it will reach other countries, because it is the only way to be able to grow. And like any sport, it is very important for people, for their daily lives, even more so for blind people, since it gives them high confidence and helps them in their movement and especially in their personal lives,” said the experienced coach.
Analía Suárez, a goalball teacher, coach and judge, invited everyone to join this activity, clarifying that this discipline is not adapted from another sport, but was designed exclusively for people with visual disabilities.
“We are trying to open doors, to open minds, not only for us as teachers, but for all the people behind us. It is about changing the way the person in front of us looks,” he reflected.
Participation in the course is free of charge. A certificate will be issued at the end of the course and, as one absence is permitted, those interested in participating can still do so by registering at the following link: form.
Upcoming meetings:
• MODULE N° 2 (September 28): Sports activities for people with intellectual disabilities. The topics to be covered will be Recreation and Sports, Childhood and family around autism, tennis without limits, sports for people with Down syndrome and karate for people with intellectual disabilities.
• MODULE No. 3 (October 19): Sports for people with hearing disabilities. Topics: Organization of the Deaf in Córdoba, Introduction to Sign Language. Speakers: Department of Disability, Municipality of Córdoba.
• MODULE No. 4 (November 2): Sports for people with motor disabilities. Sports: Quad Rugby, Wheelchair Basketball, Boccia. Speakers: Professor Pablo Sena, SICA Club, Lic. Jimena Casas.
• MODULE No. 5 (November 16): Adaptive, inclusive and Paralympic swimming. Activities: Adaptive swimming, Aquatic activities for people with reduced mobility. Speakers: Professors Belén Re, Soledad Torres, Lic. Natalia Cabrera, Lic. Juan López, Lic. Jimena Casas.
