04/03/2019
Great post from one of our team coaches.
Enough things have profoundly affected me recently that I have had another 4am awakening and desire to write these words... you know what that means, settle down for another over share from Be- this time on para-athletes and ableism.
Sadly para-athletes are not seen as equals to able bodied athletes... yep I went there... this is a controversial subject like sexism, racism, and homophobia and we don’t really talk about it. Ableism (aka disablism) is not a term commonly used or recognised but there is a stigma attached to disabled people that sadly I have witnessed on numerous occasions over the last few years and am now exposed to on a daily basis. When you’re a woman holding the hand of another woman in a wheelchair it becomes hard to decide why people double take or stare - the ‘gay thing’ or the ‘disabled thing’!
For some reason many of us Brits are afraid of disabled people- especially wheelchair users! Profusely apologising if we get in their way or being over helpful is our way of feeling sorry for their situation and can come across as more patronising than beneficial.
Despite this, in Britain the benefits system is an absolute mess and a terrifying number of disabled people died last year after having their benefits taken away or not receiving it when needed (not to mention the devastating psychological impact the assessment process has on some individuals). However, at least there is some system in place, in so many countries there is little to no support and disabled people get neglected and treated awfully. So where is the line between over helpful sympathy and neglect- how do we know what to do, what to say, how to help?!
Well there is no correct answer (I certainly don’t know it!) as everyone is different - no one person is the same as everyone’s journey to their disability has been different and sadly some people abuse the term.
But what I have learnt in the last few years, in my very fortunate position, is that para athletes are just people who want to be treated like people! Athletes who want to be treated like athletes. Climbers who want to be treated like climbers.
They work and train just as hard... no, significantly harder, than able bodied athletes to achieve their goals... not just their sporting goals but day to day tasks that we take for granted like walking to the bloody bathroom! Imagine the self discipline it takes to go to a climbing wall and train when just getting yourself up, showered and dressed in the morning takes a huge amount of effort and on top of that you are managing pain and illness through a daily concoction of scary drugs with awful side effects.
I know that some people see para athletic achievements as less commendable or note worthy because they have less competition or it’s made easier for them, but to those naive people... obviously there are far fewer disabled than able people in the world but there are very few that partake in sport- it’s unbelievably hard to do any sporting activity with a disability never the less train to a competitive level!
Every para athlete I know wishes they had 100 more competitors, 1000 more people in the crowd cheering them on but sadly para-sport (especially climbing) is not quite there yet. But next time you think yeh that’s cool they became world champion but there was only 10 people in their category and their route looked easy- imagine how much harder everyone of their training days was and how many more physical and psychological barriers they’ve had to break down to get up that wall and beat each one of those people! Para climbers at the top of their game train just as hard as able bodied climbers but just have to do it on top of all their other daily challenges! Yes Jakob Schubert and Jessica Pilz had to beat many more people to become world champions last year but who is to say their journey was any harder or more note worthy than Matt Phillips who did it with one hand, Abbie Robinson with reduced sight or Hannah Baldwin with one leg!
You can call me biased but I’ve seen their journeys from the inside and it’s unbelievable what they have overcome to achieve their dreams!
This prejudice has even trickled down to me as para coach- it has been suggested that I’m not a ‘real’ GB coach... just a Paraclimbing coach- like this is an easier or lesser job!
I can tell you now I have the best job in the world- the most challenging (in every way I could have imagined!) but the most rewarding, incredible job I could want.
Team coaches Robin O’Leary, Emma Wood and I celebrate and encourage the teams abilities not disabilities- we want to see our athletes working hard to be the best climbers they can be.
Every week we see these athletes achieve the seemingly impossible and make sacrifices, decisions and commitments that we can’t even imagine.
So I urge you, next time you come in to contact with someone with a disability, don’t be afraid or patronising but most importantly don’t feel sorry for them- they are probably way more bad ass than you or I will ever be!
