Paralympic Winter School Day in Sweden

On 24 March, a total of 130 students, between the age of 6-12 years, got a chance to experience a Paralympic Winter School Day at Lillbo School in the small municipality of Edsbyn, Sweden. 30 Mar 2009 By IPC

Paralympic School Days are currently spread around Sweden by the Swedish Development Centre for Disability Sport (SUH) in collaboration with the Swedish National Paralympic Committee.

The Paralympic School Day (PSD) is an educational programme initiated by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The aim of the programme is to create awareness and understanding in schools about persons with a disability. This Paralympic Winter School Day was organized as a student task within a university course in adapted physical activity organized by the University of Gävle and SUH.

The PSD is a set of activities that educate youth about Paralympic Sport, individual differences and disability issues in a fun and playful environment.

The students in Edsbyn had lots of fun during the day, while experiencing Alpine Skiing with sitskis and skicarts as well as going down hills blind-folded and using a guide. They also had the possibility to try out Cross-Country Skiing under different conditions. Complementary to all that the students played various indoor sports like Wheelchair Basketball and Goalball.

“It is very important that the kids get a chance to reflect and discuss upon their experiences. Today it was very encouraging to listen to the kids reflections in the end of each activity. It was obvious that many of them gained respect and understanding for people’s differences and similarities and also more specific for what it means to practize sport when you have different kind of disabilities”, said Project Leader Mia Boänges, who organized this day on behalf of and in collaboration with SUH.

One of the highlight activities during the day was the chance to meet a Paralympic athlete. At Lillbo School, Swedish runner Per Jonsson gave a testimony about his experiences as participant in the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and answered questions.