|
Virtually any sport can be adapted to accommodate
participation by people who either rely on a wheelchair for their
everyday mobility, or have a movement disability which inhibits
their capacity to participate in able-bodied sport.
As
a result wheelchair athlete can participate in nearly every sport
one way or another, in one or more of the following settings;
Able-bodied
sports
This is where the disabled athlete competes against able-bodied
athlete with no modifications, e.g. archery, bowls, darts, shooting
or snooker.
Adapted
sports
This is where disabled athletes compete alongside able-bodied athletes,
but with modified equipment and / or slight modifications to the
existing rules e.g. flexibility within the rules of sailing have
been made to allow a special fixed harness known as a 'trap-seat'
to be used by sailors with disabilities in regular competition.
Parallel
Sports
A division for wheelchair athletes being included in a major marathon
(i.e. at the same time, using the same facilities, the same officials
and the like).
Wheelchair
Sports
Sports that have developed their own rules and regulations specifically
for people in chairs. Generally, wheelchair sports have retained
the integrity of the able-bodied version of a sport by adopting
minor modifications to rules and regulationsin order to accommodate
wheelchair athletes. E.g. heelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Tennis,
Wheelchair Track etc.
For
Example
The rules for wheelchair tennis are almost identical to those of
the able-bodied game except that the ball is allowed to bopunce
twice instead of once.
See
Table
send
this page to a friend
|
