Adapted Sports Activities
Sporting activities play an important role in all our lives and this is especially true for the life and communities of persons with disabilities.
Physical activity and participating in sports promote improved functioning and quality of life.
A great many sporting activities that can be used for rehabilitation and recreation have now become accessible to people with disabilities. Adapted sports are used increasingly in treatment, complementing conventional methods of physiotherapy.
Participation in adapted sports and games gives individuals the opportunity:
- to improve their physical condition
- to increase their motor activity and dexterity
- to develop new interests for making use of their free time
- to experience positive social and group experiences, that result in developing their personality, self-confidence and self-respect.
The program of the Therapeutic Physical Education department includes, depending on the period, the following Adapted Sports Activities.
Boccia is an exclusively Paralympic event since 1984, and constitutes an adapted sport activity for persons with serious motor impairments – cerebral palsy and myopathies - who use wheelchairs. The sport is thought to have been played in Greece with contestants throwing large stones at a target stone. The rules of Boccia are set by CP-ISRA and reviewed every four years, usually immediately after the Paralympic Games.
The aim of the game is for players to throw their balls, blue or red, as close as possible to a white target ball (jack). The game can be played either by individuals (one against one using 6 balls each), couples (two against two with 3 balls each) or teams (three against three with 2 balls for each team).
Bowling is a special activity enabling everyone to participate, irrespective of their form of disability or technical skills. It is one of the most accessible sports for Cerebral Palsy.
It requires a satisfactory neuromuscular synergy, balance and precision and it is an interesting way of developing body alertness, strengthening muscles and improving hand-eye coordination and concentration.
Wheelchair basketball is a very popular sport, amongst children and teenagers with motor problems. Furthermore, it is a highly competitive sport that elicits great interest on an international level and constitutes a Paralympic sport.
Wheelchair basketball is based on basketball rules, with certain adjustments applied regarding the use of a wheelchair and the categories and classification of disabled athletes.
It is played by boys and girls and helps them develop hand and eye coordination, because the sport requires accuracy, and strategies adjusted to managing the wheelchair and handling the ball during the game. For this reason, athletes, especially those with Cerebral Palsy who practice the sport, should have a mild impairment and satisfactory bilateral function of the upper limbs.