251 Athletes, Coaches and Resource persons from 20 states of India climbed another rung of the ladder as they converged at Nevai, Tonk, Rajasthan at a National Coaching Camp (Males) held from 22-27 September 2015.
Skill demonstration, practise and developme
nt sessions with trainers and Coaches brought them closer to a sport that has similarities with Hockey. The plastic sticks with which it is played spotted the field with colour promising to make the sport attractive to the viewer. Orientation to Sport rules, divisioning and defining competition training and structure strengthened comprehension of the sport. Delivery sessions and uncompromising assessments fortified grip of the burgeoning floor ball team India. Says Sukhbir from Haryana and coach with SO Bharat since 2010, “It was delightful to see our Athletes take easily and eagerly to this fairly new sport. They were quick to grasp from basic to high levels of sport skills.” At the camp he was able to learn more and also implement the lessons with the Athletes.
Sukhbir has been associated with the Floor ball Association of Haryana for 6 years and also participated at the Floorball training Camp held in November 2014 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Mumbai Camp made him confident in training persons with Intellectual disabilities and he’s prepared to training more.
In the words of Air Marshal Denzil Keelor, CEO, Special Olympics Bharat
Floorball has now been introduced into SO Bharat program, being an official sport at the Winter Games. Training of our Athletes started last year, going on right through the year without any problems. Our Athletes took to this game without any difficulty and over 225 males qualified for the first camp at Rajasthan. I’m confident that in the days ahead they will hone their skills and be well prepared for the winter games due to be held in March 2017. I would like to congratulate Coaches and trainers for the speed with which they were able to introduce the game in the program and help the states to adapt to the new change. I wish them good luck in this new enterprise.
Floor ball is a versatile indoor team sport developed in the 1970s in Sweden, played with plastic sticks and a light ball. It was for the first time included as a demonstration sport in the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2013 played in PyeongChang and will be an official sport at the Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Austria 2017.
http://specialolympics.org/floorball.aspx
Along with sharpening specific sport skills the Camp maintained focus on developing At
hletes overall through monitoring ADL (Activities of daily living). Competition between state teams concluded the Coaching with enhanced excitement and prudence.
Healthy Athlete Fit Feet Program screened over 140 athletes unde
r the supervision of Mr. Javed Khan assisted by Clinical volunteers from Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital. He was glad to observe that a majority of Athletes were fit to play. Some out of those screened were referred to a physiotherapist and few to an orthopaedic Doctor. Mr. Javed, who has been associated with SO Bharat since 2007, suggests that the frequency of Fitfeet screenings be increased as it directly impacts performance in a sport.
A Youth Activation Program was introduced to 12 Youth Leaders from various districts of Rajasthan. 19 athletes and Coaches from other participating states joined in too. They would carry forward this training to their respective states. Innovative ideas were received by the Youth leaders of promoting Inclusion through varied Unified activities involving families and friends including Clay modelling Session, Soft ball throw and more.
