MADRID, 31 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The ONCE announced this Thursday that it is going to promote the Inclusive Sports Observatory, a tool to analyze sports practice by people with visual disabilities, from the school environment to high competition, and to reflect on and develop proposals for internal actions and external that contribute to its improvement.
The organization considers sport as one of its “most important commitments in its model of social inclusion of all blind or visually impaired people.” “The benefits that sport and physical activity bring, at any age, are extremely important. That is why this Observatory was born,” explains Imelda Fernández, president of the Observatory and vice president of Social Services of ONCE, in a press release.
This Observatory has in its organizational chart representatives from all areas of the ONCE Social Group -ONCE, Fundación ONCE and Ilunion-, and from all the departments or centers involved in promoting sports practice, education and socio-cultural animation, such as the Territorial Councils of the organization, the Centers of
Educational Resources (CRE), and the Spanish Federation of Sports for the Blind (FEDC).
It has three people, two of them external to ONCE, experts in sports and disability, such as Bárbara Fuertes, Deputy Director General for Women and Sports of the Higher Sports Council (CSD); Luis Leardy, director of Communication and External Relations of the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE), and José Luis Vaquero, technical director of swimming for the FEDC and national coach.
“In addition to being a pioneer, it is a very important initiative, because the Observatory is going to put an end to, among other things, the lack of data that on many occasions prevents the implementation of policies and actions aimed at favoring that in the future there are, for example, , a good pool of Paralympic athletes”, recognizes Leardy.
For his part, Vaquero believes that “the problem is that in order for them to be integrated into physical activities, more resources must be given to centers and teachers,” he explains, making it clear that it is “very important” to reach families.
Established as an Observatory for Sports Practice and Physical Activity at the end of 2019, the arrival of the pandemic slowed down its activity just as it did with sports competitions, but now it is once again promoting its work, which has already begun to roll moderately in 2021 with various steps to materialize your goals.
One of them was the approval of the document ‘Physical activity and sports practice for minors in ONCE’, which defines the frameworks where they can practice sports, as well as the help and support that the organization can offer them, or the ‘Report on sports practice and physical activity of people affiliated with ONCE’, an analysis of the current sports situation among people who are blind or have low vision.
In addition, the preparation of what will be the first ‘Dossier of good practices for the encouragement and promotion of the practice of sport by people who are blind or have low vision’ is already underway, on an annual basis and which will be distributed to all ONCE, as well as external professional entities and groups, being updated periodically. For Fernández, this is “a highly relevant project” because it will allow him to “share ideas that can help improve” his participation “in sports activities in all areas.”
On the other hand, on a practical level, the Observatory will also promote two important events with sport as the axis of inclusion, normalization, knowledge and motivation for children, young people and their families, such as the Sports Bridge Conference, organized by the FEDC and which has already were held last year, and the ONCE Sports Schools, which in 2022 will be held in September in Tarragona, under the motto ‘Let’s all play’.