The disabled in their conquest of sports

Para athletes around Southeast Asia are giving their everything to the upcoming ASEAN Para Games

The sun has hardly set over the Singapore Sports Hub when football players donned in black-and-red uniform march into the court. They come in every shapes and sizes, and all are blind-folded. At the sound of the whistle, they start dashing, shuffling, threading to the ringing of the bells on the ball and on their feet.

The Singapore para football team, as well as other 1000 para athletes around Southeast Asia, is buckling down for the ASEAN Para Games (APG), which takes place in Bangkok, Thailand this September 2019. The Games will bring them one step closer to international arena at the Paralympic Games.

"Never before has the APG garnered so many great athletes across Southeast Asia. The Games have not started, but anyone can already feel the heat of competition all over the region", Chaipak Siriwat - Chairman of the Thailand Organising Committee - exclaims. “This is definitely the peak of ASEAN sports”

The ASEAN Para Games: where disability turns ability

Since the establishment of the games in 2001, eleven Southeast Asian countries have been actively sending their hopefuls to the ASEAN Para Games every two years. Athletes with physical difficulty come together to compete in a set of specially designed sports.

APG is set with a mission to promote solidarity among the disabled and integrate them into mainstream society. Sports for the differently abled are constantly developed. Para athletes are strongly promoted to the Paralympic Games, where they find more diverse competition and bigger development chances.

The para athletes: blood, sweat and tears for gold

Back in the football court of Singapore Sports Hub, the para football players circle the field in harmony under the heat of the sun. Sweat drenches their uniforms and drips profusely from their faces, but their determination remains just like when the session started four hours ago.

This new concept of football takes these newbies in Para sports over a year to get familiar with. Now, as they are going up against veteran components, the Singaporean team practically calls the sports hub their home.

“Whoever said para sports is not competitive?” said Hansen Bay - head coach of Indonesian goalball team. "As for my sport, the ball can travel at up to 60kmh or even more at the Paralympics level. Here, it is about 30 to 40kmh — still hard, and still fast, and the players must get used to the hard knocks."

But none of those can stop the para athletes from keeping their eyes on the game. Just like his Singaporean fellows, Cambodian wheelchair racer Van Vun aims for nothing but gold. "The ASEAN Para Games is the perfect stage to bring honour to my country. I spend all my mornings and evenings training without much problem, so I believe I am ready. I promise you will see the best of me."

Also working for gold, veteran sailor Jovin Tan has spent the last 3 months training excessively. He expects to garner more attention and support from people not just for the Games.

“I hope people can come and watch the Games, or see it on TV, and see that we’re just like the able-bodied athletes, and see how the Games are played. This is our time to showcase what we can do.”

A better community through sports

As over 25,000 people are flocking towards Thailand for the APG, $65 million has been raised so far. This marks a peak in the financial support for para sports, which has never ceased to grow over the past decade. The increasing support has inspired more para athletes to join the APG.

Veteran sports administrators, officials, and disability rights advocates attribute this to APG's focus on developing an inclusive society. Para athletes are shown that they have the same opportunities, sports or otherwise, as anyone else. This helps them achieve greatness and change the perception of people towards the disabled community.

What one can learn from the para athletes is that anything can be achieved with determination and perseverance. The APG's vision of a more inclusive society for the disabled is a long way ahead, but the signs of increasing support from the governments and society are promising.

Osoth Bhavilai – president of ASEAN Para Sports Federation shares “We hope that the support will continue beyond the Games, and we will do our best to ensure that”.

Le Thanh Nhien (2017)