Including everyone in sports to set an example

Every weekend hundreds of sports centers in Spain hold events for people with disabilities. They play, compete, learn, have fun and, essentially, give us all a lesson in personal growth. Sports should be engaged in at any age, regardless of someone’s conditions or capacities, because it improves social and physical abilities. Especially for those with some kind of disability.

In addition, inclusive sports spread the values of physical activity to the rest of society: sacrifice, effort, the will to improve, motivation, humility and respect. Spain has made great progress in this sense, but there’s still a lot to be done. When someone has a disability, the challenge and effort to engage in sports improves their daily life.

‘Campeones’ gives us a mirror

A good example of how sports can bring inclusion is the film Campeones (“Champions”), directed by Javier Fesser, which cleaned up at the Spanish box office.

Fesser tells the story of personal self-improvement among members of an inclusive basketball team, but it’s much more than a moving story about disability. Using humor, it related the experience of a coach who, obliged to engage in some social work following a traffic accident, must train a basketball team made up of players with intellectual disabilities. The story has really connected with Spanish society.

It connects because it speaks about the will to succeed of all those ‘champions’ who each weekend compete for just the love of their sport: because they have fun in a way that only sports can provide, and where the watchword is sportsmanship and where they provide a lesson for everyone.

For the past three years at the Pau Gasol Academy, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a group of intellectually-challenged boys and girls through the Special Olympics, and of sharing the court with some really wonderful human beings. Summer after summer, they show me that there are no limits or barriers for someone who really wants to pursue his or her passion.

Spirit of improvement in Spanish swimming

Another example of the will to succeed is the Paralympic swimmer Teresa Perales, who is one of the athletes who has won the most medals in the history of the Paralympics and is a unique athlete for whom I have the greatest affection and admiration. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to write the prologue for a comic book produced by some of Spain’s most brilliant cartoonists, about the spirit of improvement of this great friend. Last year I also had the honor of experiencing one of the most moving moments of my sporting career when, together, we each received Spain’s Gold Medal for Work Merit. 

Spanish swimming has also given us the inspiring example of Michelle Alonso, a swimmer with intellectual disabilities. After winning two gold medals in the Paralympics and becoming the world’s best in her category, last month she broke down all the barriers to become the first swimmer with intellectual disability to compete in the absolute category with stars like Mireia Belmonte, Jessica Vale and other important figures in Spanish swimming. Her participation was not just a friendly invitation, but something she had earned on her own merits after meeting the minimum time required to take part in Spain’s absolute championship. Just like any professional swimmer, Michelle trains every day, demonstrating that sacrifice and the will to improve are the only way to achieve great sporting results.

Playing in the NFL with one hand

If we cross the pond, in the United States there’s another story of overcoming the odds, in the National Football League. In April of 2018, Shaquem Griffin, who has only one hand, was the star of the 2018 draft when he became the first physically disabled player to join an NFL team.

Shaquem has played alongside his twin brother, Shaquill, on the Seattle Seahawks. The lives of these twins have always been linked to football, and Shaquem’s constant efforts to overcome his disability have allowed him to continue their inspiring story.

His left hand was amputated when he was four years old because of amniotic band syndrome, which kept the fingers from fully developing. But that didn’t keep him from playing the sport he loved. Nobody would have criticized him if he had decided to give up football, but he wasn’t going to let the amputation keep him from realizing his dream.

All these stories are admirable examples of the things that make real differences on practically all levels of sports and of life.

I’ll leave you with some words from Helen Keller that inspire me whenever I read them, and that remind me of what’s really important: 

“Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again.” A very wise woman.

I’ve always thought that the harder it takes to achieve something, the greater its value when achieved and the more we value it. Because of this, inclusive sports are a lesson to everyone.

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You can read this article in Spanish here.