NCCP Coaching Athletes with a Disability, Adaptive Sport
Source: My personal notes from course taken through Coach.ca Locker
Introduction
Section titled “Introduction”14% of Canadians aged 15 and older have a disability. Many have more than 1 disability according to Statistics Canada
Athletes with a disability are still athletes and their coaches are coaches. All athletes are unique.
Concepts to explore
- Understanding Disability
- Getting Athletes Involved
- Designing Programs and adapting practice to athletes
Effective Communication
Section titled “Effective Communication”People First Language
Section titled “People First Language”Principle: refer to the person by name or how they want to be called. Only refer to the disability if relevant.
- Stop referring to a disability unless it is relevant
- Start preferring use of people’s names
- Continue using respectful language
Getting Athletes Involved
Section titled “Getting Athletes Involved”Awareness could be visit from a friend, para-sport, seeing sport in media
First involvement may be a trial day, accompaniment with another athlete
- Focus on goals
Adaptive Technique Example for Artistic Gymnastics
Section titled “Adaptive Technique Example for Artistic Gymnastics”- Sport: Gymnastics
- Game/Activity: Floor rotations
- Skills: Cartwheel, Rolls, Jump turns
- Activity: level: Low - Medium
- Number of Athletes: 6-8
- Equipment: Gymnastics floor + mats, padding
- Safety: clear space, mats in case of falls
- Engagement: View all athletes, adapt skills with progressions and options
- Success: demonstration
- Skill development: execution and repetition
- Fill out an adaptive technique template
A-D-A-P-T-I-V-E
Section titled “A-D-A-P-T-I-V-E”| Ability | e.g. cartwheel: bear, bear side jump, mat to mat, follow string, cartwheel, blocked, round off, handstand in middle |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Progressions for skills, multiple repetitions, games to increase difficulty |
| Area | Lines, floor |
| Participants | Circuit, Rotations with pairing, individual rotations, lines, team games |
| Time | Rest, skill practice duration, length of circuit, warm up |
| Inclusion | # of Rotations, partner exercises, individual stations with assistance, modified equipment lane - open, modified, parallel, separate, disability |
| Variability | Combine skills into a 3 skill demonstration. Observe skill execution and ask why they did something |
| Equipment | Modify mat, blocks, locomotion techniques. Provide “guides” through drawing. |