Good response to rope-skipping competition
KUCHING: The 6th annual rope-skipping competition for individuals with dyslexia held recently was a great success in terms of participation.
Organised by Dyslexia Association of Sarawak (DASwk), the event received good support from collaborators including Welfare Department, Education Department, Sarawak State Library and Unimas Medical Society(Unimed).
DASWK president Dr Ong Puay Hoon said a total of 188 athletes participated in the event, the highest since the competition’s inception in 2012.
She said the athletes came from 20 primary and secondary schools and 11 Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti (PDKs) in Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Padawan, Bau, Lundu and Serian districts.
She added that the 14 children attending intervention and learning support programmes in DASwk also participated in the competition.
The aims of the competition are to promote rope skipping as a healthy physical activity among young people with disabilities, highlight the importance of ropeskipping as an activity to balance left-right brain neurology, provide a platform for young people with disabilities to show their talent and creativity in rope-skipping and motivate them to strive harder to achieve their target.
The event was divided into three categories: Category A (for students with learning disabilities), Category B (for individuals with learning disabilities from PDKs, DASwk and others) and Category C (for individuals with other disabilities).
In each category, there were three divisions according to age groups: 11 years old and below, 12-17 years old and 18 years old and above.
Five events were up for competition - Event A1: Individual (most number of skips in 10 minutes), Event A2: Individual (most creative skips in 3 minutes), Event B1: Group of 3 (most number of skips in 10 mins), Event B2: Group of 3 (most creative skips in 3 minutes) and Event C: Double Dutch (2 ropes, most number of skips in 10 minutes).
SK Semenggok emerged as the overall champion with 73 points, second place was SMK DPHA Gapor (56 points) and third place was DASwk (33 points).
The closing ceremony was officiated at by Assistant Minister for Welfare and Community Wellbeing Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, who also pledged government grant of RM10,000 to support DASwk’s activities.