The work of The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) in helping Irish people with disabilities get involved in sport has been highlighted by a number of our top Paralympians.
Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane was recently joined on a panel by four-time Paralympian John Fulham and also Orla Barry, an international discus thrower who has been a World and European medalist.
Fulham, the Paralympics Ireland President who is a former European wheelchair racing champion at both 100 metres and 200 metres, says an approach from an IWA member when he was a teenager led to his career in sport.
"At that age you're probably not out there looking, at 14, and my parents weren't really aware of it. The association does so much, but it was really through a local person in an IWA club that saw me pushing along the street and came up and asked me 'Have you ever thought about getting involved in sport?'
"I didn't realise there was a mechanism for me to do it. At that stage I thought sport for me would be watching it, so to discover this whole world where I could actually do things was amazing.
"It was only as I became more involved that I discovered there were other things - my journey with IWA, which is still ongoing - started and [I saw] the breadth of what they do.
"After that the world became more and more my oyster!"
Cork native Orla Barry, who retired from Paralympic sport at the beginning of this year, also spoke about her career origins, and the impact the IWA had on her life.
"I would have started sport around the age of nine, and I'm 31 now so that was a bit ago! We didn't really know what was out there for me and what I could get involved in.
"Go out there and see what there is for you to try!"
Irish discus Paralympian @orlabarryxxx joined @keane_ellen and John Fulham (@CFulham) on a panel discussing the work of the @IrishWheelchair Association. #stuck
SEE MORE: https://t.co/olo9Tnmb4K pic.twitter.com/3j69mTgzAk— Off The Ball (@offtheball) October 5, 2020
"I just wanted to try a few different things, see what I liked, and I had been a good swimmer as a child, went to a few different IWA competitions, and from there they said 'Well why don't you try athletics? Why don't you try basketball?'
"There are all these sports out there for kids with disabilities to try. I went along to all of them and fell in love with athletics, so I continued the swimming and athletics for a while together.
"Then I just focused on my athletics from about the age of 15 onwards. I totally fell in love with the sport and all the people in it.
"I was listening to other athletes talking about warm-weather training and competing abroad and this was their life. I was just so taken away with the possibility that it could be my life too.
"The support the IWA gave me in those beginning stages, particularly when I was a junior and gaining the experience and training and coaching... I definitely owe my career starting off to the IWA and the support that they gave me.
"Without that I possibly wouldn't have ended up being a Paralympic athlete."
The Irish Wheelchair Association has had to regrettably cancel its annual street collection because of the Covid pandemic. The charity is appealing to the public to continue to support its appeal online and to make a donation though its website, iwa.ie.
