Disability and … Sports

There are some things which a person is just bad at (I am sure everyone can relate!). Sometimes it might be knitting and other times it could be maths. I am really really bad at sports (my husband says this isn’t true but he is way too kind!), no matter how much I want it or try.

I will never be good at football and this makes me sad. I loved football at school, really loved it. I liked playing in defence, because:

1. I like to tackle people.
2. I like whacking the ball as far as I can.

I will always remember being excited for my football grade, and then getting an ‘E’ for it (at some point we should really talk about how school grade systems for PE don’t really take disability into account…). I was well below average and this just sucked. I still play football from time to time. I have had accidents though, I broke my leg playing football with some guys at university (leading to me being put on a bicycle, wheeled out of Hyde Park and put in a cab for the hospital) and I have had several direct hits to the head. I have also tried other sports. My husband and I play tennis in the park sometimes. As soon as the ball goes into the air I can’t see it. When we play I am either upset with him because he misses the ball on purpose, or upset because no matter how hard I try, I just can’t hit the ball. I tried out cricket and goal ball for visually impaired people. I really wanted to join visually impaired football but I couldn’t find any local team. Anyway, cricket was not good. I was the youngest there by far and the only woman. I went a few times but then gave it up.

All in all, my relationship with sports is somewhat varied. Sometimes I love it and most of the time I don’t. I wish that I could learn aptitude in such a thing! I sometimes wonder if I would have been a sports icon if I was fully sighted, but knowing that I have dire running skills (which I don’t think my visual impairment affects), it’s highly likely I would be just as bad! Luckily, there are other things I am relatively good at so I shall just focus on them. Maybe write a book or two instead 🙂

I am in New York next week. I am aiming to blog, but might be having too much fun. Have an amazing week