Disability sport came about largely because of exclusion, because mainstream sport didn't want disabled people to be part of it.
Interpretation
Disability sports emerged in response to the exclusion of disabled individuals from mainstream sports.
The quote highlights the historical context in which disability sports were developed, pointing to the exclusionary practices of mainstream sports that prevented disabled individuals from participating. This exclusion motivated the creation of specialized sports programs and events, allowing disabled athletes to compete and showcase their talents in a more inclusive environment.
In practice
In a speech about inclusivity in sports, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of making sports accessible to all.
Perhaps we need to redefine our idea of role models; they're not always elite athletes whose success might seem too distant or unachievable. Sometimes it's our friend who just smashed her first 10k, or our Zumba teacher who is enthusiastic, encouraging and real.
I wouldn't have had a sporting career if it hadn't been for the volunteers who agreed to coach me, as a teenager, growing up in south Wales, at a time when others were telling me that wheelchair racing wasn't really athletics.
As a disabled person I have to think and plan far more than anyone else. If I want to catch a bus I have to consider whether the ramp works, whether there will be someone in the one space who doesn't want to move. It can be a constant worry.
Someone who has juggled the ball in the air during a game, after which four defenders of the opponent get the time to run back, that's the player people think is great. I say he has to go to a circus.
Players today moan about the number of games, but when you're young, you can't play enough.
Football is beautiful. Football is beautiful because whether you win, draw, or lose, you can go and shake your opponent's hand, whether they're white or black or red or blue.
We, as a wrestling community, better remember it is more than one individual that makes a winner.
Golf challenges you mentally at any age, and when you become my age, it's a challenge physically to try to make your game work as well as it ever did. That's close to impossible, but that doesn't keep you from trying to hit the ball where you used to hit it and make the putts you used to make all the time.
Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.
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