https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/local-sport/leeway-on-numbers-needed-for-inclusive-rugby-program/news-story/28c1a0ffcefd8ea079713252dfb04a7a BEFORE sport was brought to its knees by the coronavirus pandemic, Tyerys Bates had found his groove. Now, deprived of a sporting outlet that embraces him and his teammates, the 10-year-old is lost. As community sport seeks to get off the ground following State Government guidelines the buzz of imminent competition has returned to athletes throughout Townsville. But codes often laud of their inclusiveness, and the reality is some programs — such as the Brothers Modified Rugby Program — may need some leeway to deliver their product. The MRP is designed to give children living with autism, Asperger's and other intellectual disabilities the opportunity to partake in the game in an environment that would have alluded them in regular club settings. Participants are also paired with a teenage ‘player mentor’ who teach them the skills of the game and help guide them on the field. Tyerys’s mum Rhiannon Taylor has seen the profound impact involvement in the program has had on her son. No longer shy and anti-social, Tyerys had found a place where he was not treated as an outsider. However COVID-19 has held no prisoners; like all sports, the program shut down.
Taylor said the biggest concern for her son was the regression. Living on the spectrum, routine becomes a crucial component of Tyerys’s life and the understanding of why sport has been taken from him is difficult to appreciate. Taylor said the Brothers outlet was the only one in Townsville — without it, the children who participate and the parents who have found this support network have no other option. “We’ve explained it but the understanding is very limited. Not only Tyerys but the other kids can’t understand why they can’t play footy together,” she said. “We kind of say some people are getting sick but they don’t understand the risks of it or the impacts of it if we go against the rules. “The likelihood of him picking up a football is slim to none because he wants to be with his friends. Trying to get him to engage at the moment is very difficult, there’s no fun in it for him.” The GingerCloud Foundation, who conceptualised the Modified Rugby Program, currently has an application pending with Queensland’s chief health officer and through QSport to restart the outlet. In these applications, the organisation has asked for a relaxation in the number of people on the field to allow each player with a disability to have their player mentor on the field to support them. It also acknowledges that GingerCloud will adopt the appropriate risk mitigation strategies in line with the federal and state requirements of the COVID-19 environment. GingerCloud Founation and MRP managing director Megan Elliott said there are limited group activities for the children who participate to embrace the community inclusion sport provides them. She said as community sport continued its road map out of the health crisis it was imperative these children did not slip through the cracks. “Never before has the mental health impact of isolation on families with children with autism, Asperger's or other learning and perceptual disabilities been more acutely felt than right now,” Elliott said. “For our GingerCloud and Modified Rugby Program families, so many opportunities on which we rely daily for connection, conversation and community are currently unavailable. “There are limited number of group activities in which our children can participate, our families are under increasing pressure as time goes on and our community inclusion opportunities – particularly community sport – are in hibernation.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI covered a vast range of sports and issues in my time with the Bulletin. Archives
June 2020
Categories |