The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) along with other organisations is holding a series of disability sports workshops on wheelchair basketball and boccia across India — Delhi, Kothamangalam (Kerala), Vellore (Tamil Nadu), Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai — from 5-24 December 2014. The workshops are being organised by the ICRC in partnership with the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India (WBFI), Chennai; Choice International, UK; Yes We Too Can (YWTC) Charitable Trust, Chennai; and other local partners.

The aim of these workshops is to improve self-confidence, motivation and social inclusion of disabled people in India. “Sport can change person with disability in an equally profound way by empowering them to realize their full potential and advocate for changes in society. Through sport, persons with disabilities will acquire vital social skills, develop independence, and become empowered to act as agents of change,” said Ms P Madhavi Latha, a wheelchair user and president of the WBFI. She is a national paralympic swimmer and also the associate vice-president of Scope International.

National and international coaches and trainers including Mr Mark Walker from Australia, Mr Jess Markt from the US, Mr Mike from Nepal and Mr Manoj Soma from the UK will be participating in the workshops. The workshop series will conclude with three championship matches for corporates, consulates and inter-state matches in Chennai. Teams can register by contacting info@wbfi.org.in.

There will also be two roundtable discussions, one in Delhi on 10 December and the other in Chennai on 17 December. The aim of the discussions is to explore a framework for increasing opportunities for persons with disabilities in India to participate in sports and to identify opportunities for increasing the representation of India’s paralympians at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

For more information click here and the WBFI website.

ICRC New Delhi