Sports CONNECT

Tennis Australia has successfully progressed through to reach Sports CONNECT Gold status. Only four sports have reached Gold status in this program indicating the Australian Sports Commission's confidence in Tennis Australia's ability to develop programs for people with a disability.

Sports CONNECT is Tennis Australia's banner program, which encompasses all of Tennis Australia's programs for people with a disability.

Sports CONNECT focuses on breaking down the barriers in sport through the following four focus areas:
Disability education
Accreditation
Classification
Athlete Support
A National Action Plan has been written in consultation with key stakeholders outlining the above four focus areas. From this Member Associations have developed their own State/Territory Action Plan's based on the National Plan.

Sports CONNECT is a great tool that has enabled Tennis Australia to further develop programs for people with a disability.

Tennis Australia, with the support of the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Paralympic Committee, is committed to Sports CONNECT's Mission of creating tennis pathways for players with a disability by breaking down the barriers to participation within tennis.

With the use of Sports CONNECT's four key focus areas of disability education, accreditation, classifier support and training and athlete support, Tennis Australia aims to:
Identify and develop pathways, networks and structures to provide opportunities for people with a disability to compete and achieve their full potential at all levels.
Ensure players with a disability are seen as a tennis player and to reinforce their ability and skill level rather than their disability.
Integrate people with a disability within tennis clubs/centres and associations.
Educate club administrators, coaches, umpires and players on the opportunities available for integrating people with a disability within their club/centre or association.
Develop and coordinate programs for people with a disability.

Find more at http://www.tennis.com.au/Pages/default.aspx?id=4&pageId=232

Plessis talks the cricket he can't see

Zimbabwe-born Dean du Plessis, 32, is probably the most hard-working man in the cricket world. He doesn't bat or bowl, but vividly describes sporting action he has never seen. Du Plessis is one of a kind: A blind cricket commentator bringing the game to life on your radio and TV. Hearing him, you wouldn't know he has two glass eyes, was born with tumours in both his retinas. His description of strokes and deliveries is faultless. A report in The Times, London says Du Plessis has an accentuated sense of hearing which makes up for his lack of vision. He has reportedly shared the commentary box with the likes of Ravi Shastri, Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Cozier and the one-eyed Bruce Yardley and in 2004, he and Yardley became the first commentary team to deliver with just one eye between them! "Wired up to the stump microphones, (du Plessis) can tell who is bowling from the footfalls and grunts, a medium or fast delivery by the length of time between the bowler's foot coming down and the impact of the ball on the pitch. He picks up a yorker from the sound of the bat ramming down on the ball, can tell if a ball is on the off or on-side, and when it has hit pad rather than bat," says the report.

He has done the job since 2001 and has sat in the commentary box for all Test-playing nations' matches. Du Plessis is a regular at the Twenty20s as well. Incidentally, du Plessis hated the 'blind cricket' he was taught as a child. Intuition helps du Plessis Zimbabwe's Dean du Plessis, who is the only blind cricket commentator to have covered Tests, ODIs and even Twenty20 games, is one of a kind. Wired to the stump camera, his keen sense of hearing and cricketing intelligence enables him to decipher the on-field action. During a recent Bangladesh-Zimbabwe game, he heard that the Bangladesh captain had sent a batsman down to fine leg after Zimbabwe batsman Charles Coventry had smashed a four. "A sixth sense told me it was a double bluff," Dean told the Times, "He wanted to give the impression that the next ball would be a bumper, to make Coventry use a hook shot." Naturally, the next Bangladeshi delivery was a yorker! "The thing about Dean is the intuition," former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Pycroft told the Times, "The public love to listen to him. If he has the right person at anchor to support him, he is brilliant."

Posted from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Plessis-talks-the-cricket-he-cant-see/articleshow/5004338.cms

Miss Ability

Ever whistled at a woman in a wheelchair? Checked out the boobs of a blind babe? Flirted with a gal who has difficulty walking? This is the tagline used by Absolutely Independent, producers of the original reality TV show, Miss Ability. Twelve young women with disabilities ‘visible to the naked eye’ participate in different events in front of a panel of judges.

The twelve contestants appear before the judges in casual wear, evening wear, swim suits and lingerie/nightgowns. They are interviewed by a top journalist to prove they have what it takes to be an Ability Ambassador, must participate in a full fashion shoot with a top photographer in which the contestants must prove their abilities as a model and make a short film in which they show how they overcame their disabilities. After all this, the judges select the final four contestants. The final four contestants then give another speech and the winner is chosen by the viewing public.

The Dutch producer of the show, Jacco Doombus, insists that the shock value of a show like this is what made it a smash success. Says Doombus, “Miss Ability isn't meant to be 'ethical,’ but is meant to be a bomb! The programme generates discussion among the viewers on how we in society are looking at disabled people and how we 'qualify' them in our minds. If you want to create a change in societies perception / public opinion of disabled persons, and how people threat a disabled person, you have to throw a bomb first ... to make people think and talk."

Read more: http://disabilities.suite101.com/article.cfm/miss_ability#ixzz0QY35aBLt