"THE ATLANTA LEGACY"

G. Andrew Fleming, ex-president and executive director of the Organising Committee of the Atlanta Paralympic Games (APOC) and current president of the United States Disabled Athletes Foundation (USDAF), has announced the start of an extensive state-wide programme for the disabled youth in Georgia, as one of the programmes inherited from the Atlanta '96 Paralympic Games. According to Fleming, "the mission of the APOC was to successfully organise the Atlanta Paralympic Games and leave behind a legacy for the Paralympic Movement. The Games last summer reaped the success we all hoped for. Today, we are presenting the first of a series of programmes, fruit of this legacy, which will significantly improve the opportunities for youngsters with physical disabilities to experience the benefits to be reaped from participating in organised sports events".

ANDREW FLEMING, ex-president of the Organising Committee of the Atlanta'96 Paralympics and President of the US Disabled Athletes Foundation.

By: KAY McKENZIE

A HUGE VACUUM

Mr Fleming declared that "one of the principal objectives of the USDAF is to cover, insofar as is possible, the huge vacuum that currently exists in the sports field for disabled young-sters, compared to their companions who are not disabled, and thus Georgia is set to become the national leader in this respect. To put it simply, our goal is to offer disabled children the same kind of sporting opportunities widely available to those children who are not disabled. At the present time, 90% of the schoolchildren with physical disabilities do not receive any kind of physical education training. We aim to change this situation."

In 1997, the USDAF received a $500 subsidy from the State of Georgia in order to draw up sports programmes for the children and teenagers with physical handicaps. Thanks to this aid, the USDAF is developing a series of sports programmes that will greatly increase the sports and recreation opportunities for the physically disabled students in the public schools of Georgia. Apart from directly helping the pupils, the USDAF wishes to demonstrate to the parents, coaches, students and teachers how beneficial the practise of sports is for the health, fitness and self-esteem of these youngsters with physical disabilities.

As Fleming said, "most of the State subsidy is to provide out-of-school sports programmes to children through the Sports Programme for youngsters with disabilities, and to train physical education teachers and professionals from the health and adapted sports sectors".

In addition to the school-oriented programmes, the USDAF will be offering a series of training camps and workshops in different sports, with national Paralympic coaches and athletes participating as instructors.

The USDAF has also committed itself to financing, from the profits derived from the Paralympic Games, an inter-school teams sports programme at the State University of Georgia. "This is the first programme of its kind in the south-east of the United States", affirmed Fleming, "and will offer the best student athletes with physical disabilities the opportunity to take part in inter-school sports. Once again, our aim is to offer the physically handicapped youngsters the same kind of opportunity for competing and excelling as their non-disabled peers".

THE "PROGRAMME"

The central core of the state-financed activities in the USDAF is a Young Disabled Sports Program (YDSP), designed to provide sports training and competition opportunities to schoolchildren with physical disabilities, as well as to train coaches, P.E. teachers and professionals in adapted sports activities, in order to better attend the needs of physically handicapped children. This programme is based on an extramural sports programme model developed by the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP).

The USDAF and the AAASP will be organising a series of regional training seminars on adapted sports, designed for coaches, therapists and other physical education, health and recreation professionals, at different points around the State. The AAASP will award the coaches and recreation professionals a certificate to enable them to teach adapted sports and will provide them with the necessary infrastructure and support to develop similar programmes in their own communities, initially through the YDSP. The Seminars in the communities will provide a showcase for demonstrations of adapted sports to those children with physical disabilities, to their parents, to the community leaders and to those teachers interested in supporting and participating in sports programmes. One-day Seminars have been held in MACON, Georgia, on August 16th and in WARM SPRINGS, Georgia, on August 12th, following the Seminar in Augusta on July 21st.

As a follow-up, the USDAF and the AAASP offer extramural training programmes in competition sports, starting on September 15th and continuing throughout the year. These programmes are being run in the Counties of COBB, NORTH FULTON, SOUTH FULTON, GWINNET and CLAYTON; in the city of ATLANTA; in the Counties of RICHMOND and COLUMBIA in the Atlanta area; in the Counties of BIBB and TWIGGS in the Macon area; and in the Counties of MERIWETHER and TROUP in the Warm Springs area. This model could be imitated at a state level and, even, be extended nationwide. The local programmes created under the YSDP will go on to become programmes recognised by the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP), in order to ensure safety levels are maintained and to promote quality of life for these youngsters and their families.

The teams created through the YDSP will compete in the state finals of football and basketball, which marks the first time, in the history of the United States, that sports competitions for the disabled are held within the school context.

BASKETBALL On July 12-13th, a Wheelchair Basketball programme aimed at children and young people was run at the Shephard Center in Atlanta. The USDAF and the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) organised a camp for newcomers to Wheelchair Basketball in Georgia, who wish to develop or improve their technique in this sport. The players received instruction on their basic techniques, both individual and team, from the national team coaches. Classes were also offered to coaches with less experience, who had the chance to learn from their expertise. A second workshop was held on July 16-20th for more experienced players at the Roosevelt Rehabilitation Institute in Warm Springs, Georgia. This Wheelchair Basketball camp, organised by the USDAF/NWBA, provided the participants from Georgia with the techniques and expertise necessary to compete at an international level in Wheelchair Basketball.

TRACK RACES AND COMPETITIONS

Wheelchair racing, a highly popular sport that requires great athletic effort, is an individual sport that can be practised throughout your life. Although there are numerous opportunities for competition open to the wheelchair racers, it is not usual to find organised training in this sport available in Georgia. The USDAF, with the backing of several Paralympic athletes as instructors, is sponsoring a series of three two-hour Seminars focused on the techniques, rules and basic training principles for wheelchair racing. Each class will be followed by a competition on the track which will provide all the excitement of true competition and the chance to incorporate the techniques learnt earlier that day.

WHEELCHAIR TENNIS

The USDAF offered two tennis work-shops this summer for children and teenagers interested in learning the basic principles or improving their technique in this fast, highly competitive sport. These workshops have been designed both for newcomers wishing to try out this sport and for more experienced players keen to improve their play. Precise, analytical instruction is offered with a view to improving the understanding a player must possess of tennis and its strategies. There also exists the possibility for parents, coaches and future players to attend as observers and learn more about this sport.

VOLLEYBALL

The USDAF is to start up a programme in GEORGIA, aimed at identifying and physically training disabled children and teenagers in the sport of volleyball on foot for those with amputations or other handicaps in their lower limbs. The participants in the volleyball camp will be drawn from orthopaedic and prosthesis centres, rehabilitation hospitals, YMCA hostels, and children's hospitals in Georgia. Among the coaches for this camp will be several of those present at the '96 Atlanta Paralympic Games, besides several of the athletes who participated in that event.

The United States Disabled Athletes Foundation (USDAF), has announced the start of an extensive state-wide programme for the physically disabled youth in Georgia, as part of the heritage from the Paralympic Games

What is the USDAF?

The USDAF is a non-profit-making organisation (BCI C(3)) created in 1994 to act as the sucessor to the Organising Committee of the Atlanta Paralympic Games. This Organisation benefits from the revenue generated at the Atlanta Paralympic Games and from the intellectual property rights conferred by the Organising Committee of the Atlanta Paralympic Games (APOC), as well as the donations proceeding from different sources of financing. Should you desire further information on the USDAF programmes, please ring the office at 770/850-8199 or send your queries by fax to 770/850-8179