This is a talking point published in the Hereford Times on September 26.

Bryan White

OF all the sport seen on TV over the summer to my mind the most impressive and stimulating was the Paralympic Games.

The Paralympic Games originated in 1948 when a sporting competition for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries was staged at Stoke Manderville Rehabilitation Hospital. One sport was contested, archery, and all the competitors were in wheelchairs.

The Paralympic Games are the second largest sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games. They were first staged in 1960 and featured 400 athletes from 23 countries. The 2024 Paralympics attracted 170 countries and 4,463 participants contesting 22 sports.

It is often difficult to understand the classification used in disability sports. It is regularly based on functional abilities in terms of movement, coordination and balance, and is why athletes with different impairments can compete against one another.

So many successful sports people are happy to claim that their inspiration was born at school and continued through sports clubs.

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However, not all children have the opportunities equally, as recent information from Paralympics UK shows that just one in four children with a disability say they take part in school sport.

Paralympics UK is calling for measures to remedy the inequality through ensuring that PE is a priority across the school education and that an essential part of teacher training. 

Beyond PE and school sport, the route to sporting excellence lies with community sports clubs. Coaching a sport at club level is rewarding and demanding but adding an ability to coach athlete with disabilities is even more challenging.