【Laos】Establishment of Wheelchair Basketball Teams and Training of Women’s Teams in 5 Prefectures
Wheelchair basketball is a major parasport in Laos. The association and related support groups have been supporting and training athletes for 15 years, but the spread to rural areas has not progressed. Since it is necessary to change generations, we thought that finding young players in rural areas and creating teams would raise the level of players in Laos as a whole. Together with the Ministry of Education and Sports, we established wheelchair basketball teams in five regional prefectures and people with disabilities. We decided to provide support for empowerment.
Providing wheelchairs for wheelchair basketball (24 new, 16 used repairs), training instructors, local clinics, team support, and nationwide tournaments. A total of 60 athletes and 10 instructors are trained.
We held a wheelchair basketball clinic specializing in female athletes and created a PR movie to widely enlighten not only people with disabilities but also society in general through sports for people with disabilities and sports for people with disabilities.
Japanese wheelchair basketball coaches have traveled to various locations, mainly in the four prefectures of the northern two prefectures (Luang Prabang and Shen Kwan) and the southern two prefectures (Savannakhet and Champasak), which are the base local cities (Bolikhamsai province is currently providing additional guidance). We trained 12 players from each prefecture, built regular practice, and finally held the 1st Lao Wheelchair Basketball National Tournament.
For instructors, OJT teaches athlete training and instructor abilities, such as recruiting athletes, training sessions, building regular practice, and managing actual tournament tournaments. It also worked well with the team and worked well as a leader training scheme.
See below for the Japanese version.
https://www.sport4tomorrow.jpnsport.go.jp/jp/17080801-2/
Feedback from Local Contacts :
Comments from Director of Lifelong Sports Bureau, Ministry of Education and Sports, Laos:
I understood the know-how of promoting wheelchair basketball. We, the leaders, were also impressed by the remarkable growth of Lao players and their enthusiasm for sports. I would like to support them, develop a strong Lao wheelchair basketball team, and fully support the players to win medals on the stage of international games.
- Time Period
- 1st May. 2016 to 31st May. 2017
- Region
- Laos
- Sport/Programme Category
- Wheelchair basketball
- Implementer
- Asian Development with Disabled Persons (ADDP)
- Recipient Organisation
- National Paralympic Committee of Laos Ministry of Education and Sports, Lao PDR
- Co-Implementer
- World Education LAOS, USAID
- Number of Individual Beneficiaries
- 540 people