Lack of a level playing field for Down Syndrome swim athletes
TWELVE elite Irish athletes returned from winning 18 medals at a world championships on Saturday and not one reporter or Tv cameraman greeted them. The fact that the athletes have Down Syndrome and are not considered newsworthy by some Irish sports journalists is a huge disappointment for the athletes and their parents. But this is only one of many slights official Ireland directs, in an offhand way, to athletes born with Down Syndrome.
The story of one such athlete who went on to win medals representing his country got to me this week. Accompanied by his mother he travelled to Nova Scotia in Canada where he spent 12 days training and swimming in various competitions at the World Down Syndrome swimming championships, representing Ireland. Not one cent was offered towards the cost of flights, accommodation and food for this young man and his mother.
The problem, dear reader, lies in how people with disabilities who love sport are allocated funding. We have all heard of Special Olympics Ireland and Swim Ireland, both of whom are funded through the Sports Council. Even still parents of athletes with disabilities and special needs are required to fundraise.
According to Director of the Irish Down Syndrome sporting organisation Áine Yap: ‘Ireland does not give equal status to people with disability. There is no funding. We have to do all of the fundraisers ourselves for the world championships and the international championships.’
The cost of travel and subsistence easily runs in to the tens of thousands for athletes competing at the top level for their country over a short number of years and according to Ms Yap there is no sign of funding in sight in the short term. The pressure put on parents of children with Down Syndrome by society is bad enough and Ireland is not as progressive as it could be in assisting parents, many of whom struggle to hold down a job and care for their loved one.
Irish Down Syndrome sporting organisation does its best and provides a chaperone service to major events, with each chaperone assisting four athletes, but for many parents who want to be by their child’s side, they have to come up with the costs associated. This involves going cap in hand to their communities for support, time and again. Can you imagine how this feels?
The Government has lately put its shoulder to the wheel when it comes to advancing social change in Ireland and yet it remains in the Dark Ages when it comes to supporting people with disabilities who are trying to compete on the international stage against peers who are backed by well resourced national sporting organisations.
Ms Yap said the current sports grant structure does not support athletes with disabilities.
‘Our athletes won five gold medals, three silver and ten bronze in the heats and had 36 personal bests and not one TV camera turned up to greet them when they arrived home.’