A day for disabled kids to shine

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya, East Java | Fri, 11/28/2008 10:57 AM | Sports


Yusak Immanuel waved his hands in the air, a broad grin on his sand-smeared face, as he celebrated his feat: a personal best in the long jump.

"I am happy. I want to be the champion," Yusak told The Jakarta Post after he completed his victory lap at Surabaya's National Sports Council field on Wednesday.

For Yusak, a student of Siswa Budi, a school for children with disabilities in Surabaya, East Java, this was an exciting day. Yusak was one of 230 athletes with mental and physical disabilities who competed in a sports carnival for children with disabilities, organized by the Surabaya chapter of the Sports for People with Disabilities Agency (BPOC).

At least 45 schools across the city sent students to compete in the carnival, which featured nine different events including chess, tennis, 50-meter and 100-meter sprints, hammer throw, discus throw and javelin throw.

"We take their disabilities into consideration in this competition. People with certain physical disabilities could not compete in certain events," Surabaya BPOC chairman Kasmin told the Post.

In some competitions, trainers or teachers helped out their students with instructions on how to compete in their events.

"Come on ... Please jump with both legs. Don't walk," one coach said to a long-jump athlete.

Nunik Malinda, a sports coach at Siswa Budi, said trainers needed to know the tricks when coaching students with disabilities.

"As children, they always want to play so we need to make them see sport as part of their games," Nunik said.

"Of course, we have to be patient and keep repeating the instructions during the training to ensure that they understand what to do."

A trainer at Sasanti Wijaya school, Biva Syaria Juned, said it was unfortunate that many students with disabilities could not do sports because of the lack of sports facilities at their schools.

"We have to keep introducing sports to the students. But it will be limited to sports that do not need certain facilities," Biva said.

Not all went smoothly on the day. One enthusiastic young athlete kept running even after he crossed the finishing line, and a blind athlete threw a javelin into the watching crowd.