Between 250 and 300 high school and middle school students from all over the island met on Wednesday at the Sohoa stadium to take part in the National School Sports Day. “This year we wanted to develop Shared Sport so that students with disabilities could play sports with able-bodied students, together, on the same team. To do this we had to adapt a few rules…”, explains Élodie Baret, deputy director of UNSS Mayotte.
Nine workshops to discover some of the disciplines of disabled sport
Throughout the day, all able-bodied students and those with disabilities were able to try out disabled sports. There was a workshop dedicated to blowpipes, another to football with crutches, wheelchair basketball, boccia, golf and sandball (handball). “Our goal during this day is to promote sport for all, particularly through inclusion. Thus, 50% of the teenagers present here today are disabled, or around 100 to 150 students,” explains Philippe Versaud, regional director of UNSS Mayotte. The aim is to allow students with disabilities to do sports activities, but also to inform them about the physical activities available near their homes. Then, in a second phase, it is a question of connecting the different actors and stakeholders with this public.”
Participate in the French Shared Sport Championships
In addition to raising awareness among the Mayotte population and young people about the theme of inclusion, Philippe Versaud also aims to take Mayotte students to mainland France to participate in the French Shared Sport Championships. “Shared Sport is an academic program of the UNSS that is close to our hearts, particularly in Mayotte where Shared Sport is still underdeveloped and lacks visibility. We would like to qualify Mayotte Shared Sport teams, 4 or 5 which represents 20 to 30 young people, to take them to the French Championships in mainland France. This has never happened before, it would be a first for Mayotte!”, he says.
Throughout the day this Wednesday, many students, supervised by the Mahorais sports movement (CROS, Departmental Council, Mahorais sports leagues, Profession Sport et Loisirs), were able to discover various disabled sports activities and share emotions, while being made aware of inclusion.
BJ
