At the 24th Olympic Games for the Deaf held in Brazil this year, the Tae Kwon Do delegation of the National Team for the Deaf won a gold medal, with Pavlos Liotsos and a bronze medal with Irini Machairidou.
According to the coach who accompanied the mission to Brazil – but also a personal coach of Peace – the primary goal of the Hellenic Deaf Sports Federation is to inform young children who have deafness problems, but are afraid to play sports because they feel disadvantaged. However, giving as an example the distinctions and the will of 14-year-old Irene, with effort and stubbornness, every child who faces these problems, can overcome them and enjoy sports with his soul.
“Irene was seen at competitions by the head of martial arts of the Deaf Union about three years ago, she approached me and that’s how the contact was made, as a result of which we compete in the 24th Olympic Games for the Deaf in Brazil. We “fell” straight into the deep. Regarding the distinctions, in this way we aim to mobilize more children, so that they can be involved in sports “, the coach of 14-year-old Irini Machairidou, Antonis Arvanitidis, emphasizes in GRTimes.gr.
Four athletes from the National Deaf National Team of Tae Kwon Do traveled to the Olympics in Brazil, however the maximum of a mission can reach 11 people. “We still have a long way to go. However, since we managed to travel four, the next goal is to increase the number of athletes and to activate as many children as possible to participate in either the specific sport or sports in general “, adds the coach.
It should be noted that football and Taekwondo are the sports that have the most active athletes’ cards.
The process and difficulties for a deaf child to participate in competitions
According to the coach of the SARISA club, Antonis Arvanitidis, in order for a child with deafness to compete in competitions – provided there are the conditions and the talent – he must contact the Hellenic Federation of the Deaf. He is then issued a card at the Athletic Club and then he can officially play in matches.
“Also, the Deaf games are specific, that is, they have the Pan-European Championship, the World Cup and the Olympics, so they participate in all the games. For example, at the time of the match, a STOP that the referee may shout, the deaf athlete may not notice and then make an offensive move, resulting in a points penalty. Irini regularly participates in the ranks of Northern Greece and plays with all opponents. I think that the little one has not realized 100% of her success, but her association at the Olympic Games with children who have the same condition helped her a lot. She was more comfortable in the space and was essentially socialized. This was the biggest gain from the games we gave “, says Mr. Arvanitidis.
Prospects and assistance from stakeholders
“Some countries are quite ‘ahead’ in terms of their organization, such as Turkey, Iran and Korea, with representation in all categories. We do not ask for financial support from the Ministry of Sports, because we know that such a thing is not possible, but PROMOTION so that even more children come and the world learns about all this effort we make. The issue is for the children to do it with love and for there to be support “, adds the 14-year-old coach.
Antonis Arvanitidis through GRTimes.gr thanks all the parents of the children who show the necessary trust in the coaches, because the responsibility is huge and the really difficult part is to return the children healthy to the door of their home. Also, the expenses for the trips and the matches are fully covered by the parents, as a result of which they expect a high level of discrimination in order to mobilize sponsors. “Unfortunately, amateur sports have costs and families pay for them. “Only through discrimination will a sponsor come, but until then, there is a huge difficulty.”
Finally, he talks about the way out for the children to find and cites the 14-year-old athlete as an example. “Through Peace we want to mobilize children with similar diseases, to engage in sports and find a new way out. When I started coaching Irene I did not know what to expect. After a lot of effort and many hours of training, finally came the medal and the successes. In the competition of the coach we won the silver medal and in the competition the 5th place “.
It should be noted that the Deaflympics started in France, so the French delegation enters first. These games do not belong to the Paralympic or Olympic Games, but are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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