Making play inclusive for everyone

“I love goalball, because when everyone is wearing blindfolds it’s a level playing field,” says sports coach Joan Hung, “At school, sighted kids often get excited and ask me, ‘Do you have to be blind to play goalball?’ It warms my heart because sports are for everyone to enjoy.”

Goalball is a team sport designed for athletes with vision impairment. It involves blindfolded players rolling a ball — which has a bell so its movements can be heard — into an opponent’s goal. It is one of the few para sports that has no able-bodied equivalent.

Joan has congenital aniridia (an absence of the iris) and lost most of her sight in her late teens. In 2015, she discovered goalball, represented Singapore at the ASEAN Para Games, and now coaches at schools and community centres.

In goalball, every player is blindfolded and relies on sound to track the ball and other players.

“As a teenager, I used to play basketball, but as my sight deteriorated, I couldn't play well anymore,” says Joan Hung, “My friends would count me hitting the rim as a score, but I wanted to play a sport where I could actually grow and improve.”

Disability sports have come a long way in Singapore thanks to advocates like Joan, as well as nationwide initiatives such as the Disability Sports Master Plan (DSMP).

Not only are there more opportunities than ever for people with disabilities to get active at schools and in their communities: there is also a growing movement for inclusion where people of all abilities can play together.

The language of possibilities 

“Singapore is a caring society,” says Jason Leong, “We worry about dangers like falling, but that’s exactly where the beauty of sport lies — it teaches us how to navigate challenges and to build confidence in facing life’s falls head-on.”

Jason Leong trains twice a week for para canoe.

Jason is a sports administrator at the ActiveSG Para Sport Academy, where he helps people with disabilities to explore and enjoy sports, by guiding them through diverse para sport programmes tailored to their interests and abilities.

“At Para Sport Academy, we prefer to speak in the language of possibilities,” he says, “So instead of thinking ‘I can’t play basketball with only one arm’, you can ask ‘how can I play basketball with my one arm?’ It’s about exploring what’s possible.”

In 2019, Jason’s life took a dramatic turn when a severe blood infection led to the amputation of his lower legs: “I knew I had to find my way back to physical activity and told myself: ‘Surely there are activities I can still enjoy or games I can play with my kids.’”

On his road to recovery, Jason discovered functional training, which helped rebuild his physical capabilities. He is now an avid canoer as well, and trains with a group of canoers who have high performance aspirations.

“There’s been a lot of progress made in disability sports. I think in the past it was hard to find information of what was available and where,” he says, “but there are more programmes for everyone now and we need to spread the word about them.”

He says accessibility is meant to be an ongoing conversation: “It's important to keep asking what else can be done. The disability spectrum is so wide, you can’t just cast your net once and say you’ve taken care of everything.”

For example, one of the ten moves under the DSMP is that more sports facilities will be enhanced with new accessibility features, such as the provision of calm rooms for people with sensory processing issues and more.   

New goals to work towards 

There is lingering stigma attached to disability, where it is seen as taking away from one’s opportunities instead of being a fact of life for those who live with it.

While coaching in schools for example, Joan sometimes meets students who could join her goalball sessions but do not. “Parents can struggle with accepting their kids’ disability,” she says, “There are kids who have mild vision impairment — who maybe receive support or accommodation when sitting for tests — but aren’t in disability sports programmes when they could be playing.”

Having more regular touchpoints for people with disabilities to engage in a sport is also vital. “When I set up my community goalball programme, I was shocked to see how fast my school students improved when they attended both sessions,” she says, “Able-bodied kids can train more frequently, but my students hadn’t had that option until that point.”

Joan says that there are social benefits of sports that tend to get overlooked: “Team sports teach us to collaborate. Many kids with disabilities don’t have a lot of other opportunities to learn because they receive a lot of support, but rarely find themselves in a position to engage on equal footing.”

Joan enjoys the teamwork involved in sports like goalball.

Always on the move

Joan and Jason continue to keep active. “I exercise around four times a week,” says Joan, “in addition to coaching I also run, swim, row, and practice judo.”

 Jason, meanwhile, canoes twice a week with his group in addition to regular sessions of functional training. “Mobility is a privilege that everyone needs to maintain. When I was in a wheelchair, it was difficult to even reach across a table for something,” he says.

“But the coach in me would tell you: there's no such thing as unathletic. You can always try things out and learn.”

The Disability Sports Master Plan (DSMP) 2024 updates will continue enhancing access to sports for everyone. These include more parallel and inclusive sports events as well as accessible sports facilities, that will enable more people with disabilities to play sports with the wider community. Find out more about how the DSMP 2024 will foster more meaningful interactions amongst people of all abilities at go.gov.sg/dsmp2024

The Singapore Disability Sport Council (SDSC) is the national sports body dedicated to nurturing and supporting persons with disabilities to participate in and enjoy sports, while realising their potential. Visit www.sdsc.org.sg or email community@sdsc.org.sg for more information.