Oluwaseyi Olubunmi Sodiya
Head of IB Physical Health Education Department
Dünya School -Khazar University
Khazar University Baku, Azerbaijan
oluwaseyi.sodiya@khazar.org

Disability sports competitions provide an opportunity for individuals with disabilities to engage in physical activity and sports on an equivalent level as their counterparts who are able-bodied.

Paralympics Games allowed athletes with physical disabilities to participate in athletic activities. Currently disability sports competitions to encompass a vast array of physical impairments, such as intellectual disabilities, blindness, and deafness.

The goal of disability sports competitions is to provide a platform for athletes with disabilities to showcase their athletic abilities and to promote understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities in our society.

These competitions are also important for promoting the inclusion of athletes with disabilities in mainstream sports and for break down barriers for people with disabilities in everyday life.

The literature review conducted for this project highlighted the following challenges leading to limited opportunities for individuals with disabilities to get involved in the sport:

1. Inaccessible facilities that are not equipped to accommodate their needs
2. Lack of wheelchair ramps or accessible bathrooms.
3. Lack of awareness or education about adaptive sports like wheelchair throwball.

Throwball is a non-contact ball sport played across a net between two teams of seven players on a rectangular court.
It is popular in Asia, especially in sub-Asian continents, and was first played in India as a women’s sport in Chennai, during the 1940s. At present the game is being played at both indoors and outdoors.
The main objective of the sport is to catch the ball without allowing it to bounce on the ground and throw it back immediately onto the opponent’s side of the court.
The second proposition is a Wheelchair Throwball competition for people with disability on the wheelchair would be an inclusive and exciting way for individuals to participate in a team sport.
The game „Wheelchair Throwball” will be adapted to accommodate players in wheelchairs, allowing for equal opportunities for everyone to compete.
We explore equipment modifications that would be put in place to accommodate players on wheelchairs, such as: specialized balls, basic rules and we also explore training and skills development necessary for players in wheelchairs to excel in throwball , including techniques for manoeuvring and throwing from a seated position.
Sports intervention programme (SPISI) for 12 weeks brought about minimal clinically important difference in upper-extremity explosive power, agility, cardiorespiratory endurance and sport-specific performance and should be included as an integral component of rehabilitation of individuals with spinal cord injury.
Disability sports competitions such as Wheelchair Throwball can provide an opportunity for individuals with disabilities to engage in physical activity and sports on an equivalent level as their counterparts who are able-bodied.

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