Stay Active Could I compete?
Different people will want different things from sport
For some, this may include finding an enjoyable pastime or a form of exercise and the chance to meet up with other people with shared interests.
Others may want to take part in competitive sports, either through pitching their skills against others or as part of a team. Whether it's turning out occasionally for the local pub cricket team or going for awards at county, national or even Paralympic level, competition can give a focus, something to aim for and a motivation to push oneself, to improve skills and get a real sense of achievement.
A level playing field
Competition can give a focus, something to aim for and a motivation to push oneself
In a way similar to the handicap system in golf, which allows players of different levels of skill to compete against each other, many sports have a classification system to take account of the different levels of ability experienced by the players. How competition is organised depends on the individual sports.
Archery, for instance, is split into three classes depending on the limb or limbs that are impaired and whether the archer uses a wheelchair. Cycling is similarly divided into four classes.
There are also a number of sports that have been modified to take account of the practicalities of playing sport with a disability. In wheelchair tennis, for instance, the ball is allowed to bounce twice before a player returns a shot.
Many team games have a grading system so that teams can contain players with different levels of ability. In wheelchair basketball, for example, players are classified on a scale between 1 and 4.5, where one point is the most severely disabled and 4.5 the least disabled. Teams are made up of five players and may not exceed a total of 14 points at any given time.
"...whether you are disabled or not is irrelevant. You are just out there, having fun, with everyone else."
Andrew Previté describes what competing means to him.
"For me there are two factors in favour of competitive sailing which rise far above any others. The first of these is personal achievement. When racing you are always trying to drive yourself and your boat harder, faster and tactically better than anyone else. You are demanding a higher standard of yourself and all that you do. This does not mean that I don't get enormous pleasure and joy out of just going for a sail. I do, but racing adds another dimension to the whole experience. The rewards lie in sailing faster than others, or simply to compete with them in conditions in which one might otherwise not sail.
The second reason is that over the last eight years I have sailed in Majorca, France, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. The 2008 2.4mR Open World Championship will be in Gran Canaria. If competitive sailing did not have the attraction for me that it does, I would never have sailed in all these different places. Having competed in European regattas, and three World Championships, I have met and sailed against many remarkable people, some of whom are now old friends, and with every event one gains new friends. The shared experience of racing with other people, able-bodied or disabled, is a very uniting one, especially as all racing in 2.4mRs is on level terms. No handicapping system is necessary between the able bodied and the disabled.
When out on the water one can only see the head and shoulders of other 2.4mR sailors. Often I have no idea, even when in close proximity to another 2.4mR, whether the sailor is able bodied or disabled. Therein lies the whole point: whether you are disabled or not is irrelevant. You are a sailor, just out there, having fun, with everyone else."
Read more about Andrew Previté and sailing
Andrew Previté competing in the 2004 Open World Championships in Sweden
The Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games take place once every four years in the same city and year as the Olympic Games. The aim of the Paralympics is to emphasise athletic achievement over disability. Elite athletes compete in one of six categories: spinal cord injury, amputee, visually impaired, cerebral palsy, mentally handicapped and les autres (athletes with motor disability).
Paralympic events include: archery, athletics, boccia, cycling, equestrian, football (5 and 7 a side), goalball, judo, powerlifting, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.
The Paralympic Winter Games take place two years after each summer Games. Winter Paralympic sports are: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon and sledge hockey. Wheelchair curling made its debut in the 2006 games in Torino, Italy. Ken Dickson won a silver medal as a member of the GB Wheelchair Curling Team. Read his account of taking part in this Open Door article.
The British Paralympic Association is responsible for selecting, preparing, entering, funding and managing Britain's teams at the Paralympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games.