School-Based Adaptive Sports Training

ASA engages children with and without disabilities at partner inclusive schools in a variety of adaptive games and sports. Appropriate sports are chosen suited to the disability profile and interests of the children at each school. ASA employs the ‘Reverse Inclusion’ approach in our school-based adaptive sports training, building the sports skills and confidence of the children with disabilities to empower them to lead and include their peers without disabilities into their adaptive sports activities.

School-based adaptive sports and games include: 

• Boccia (physical disabilities and younger children) 
• Goalball, blind football, and showdown (blind and visual impairment)
• Deaf football (deaf and hearing impairment)
• Unified football and unified basketball (intellectual disabilities)
• Sitting volleyball (physical disabilities)
• Other fun games such as treasure hunt and planting and harvesting

ASA currently runs school-based adaptive sports training at 4 schools within or nearby to Gulu City:

1. Gulu primary school (primarily children with visual impairment or blind) 
2. Laroo primary school (combination of children with hearing impairment or deaf and physical or combined disabilities)
3. Gulu prison primary school (primarily children with intellectual disabilities) 
4. Thumps Up academy (combination of children across the disability spectrum and combined disabilities)

A holistic motor function and wellbeing assessment is performed at the beginning or end of each school term, measuring the impact of the adaptive sports training on physical literacy (performance in basic sports-related tasks, including running, jumping, throwing, catching, and balance), quality of life (captured using a questionnaire), and academic performance (the child’s grades in school as well as school retention rates) focusing on the target population of children with disabilities. Results of the holistic wellbeing assessment are tracked over time to continually improve program delivery. 

An inter-school adaptive sports competition is performed once per year that brings together all the young athletes with and without disabilities from the different schools to play and compete together in a large community event. The inter-school competition provides motivation for the children during training to improve their sports skills to represent their school and collect medals and trophies. 

School-based adaptive sports training is one of ASA’s flagship programs, and is the platform for how ASA currently engages the majority of its beneficiaries. The organization aims to expand the program by engaging new partner schools in or near Gulu, as well as in new regions of Uganda and further across Africa in the future. This will require a strong and realistic expansion strategy and sustainability plan, especially for programs outside of Gulu and surrounding areas.