Introductory Meeting.
The Secretary of KAA, Tekabara Raurenti, has called a Meeting of interested people to discuss the possibility of (a) encouraging more of the disabled members of the Kiribati community to get involved in Athletics; (b) providing them with more opportunities for coaching and domestic competition; and (c) providing them with the possibility of international competition, e.g. in Fiji in 2016.
Contact has been made with the main body overseeing disabled people on Tarawa, i.e. Te Toamatoa. Also advice has been sought from the Executive Director of Oceania AA, Mrs. Yvonne Mullins and, as ever, she has been very helpful.
In the past, KAA have not really been proactive in this field but have always responded positively when their assistance or advice has been requested by disabled people. Thus a number of competitions, about once per year, have been held in wheelchair racing and in throwing Shot and Discus. However racing a standard chair on sand is more than just hard work ! So one idea is to obtain in due course one or two racing chairs, either as racing bikes or recumbent hand bikes. These to be used in training on quiet sections of the tarmaced road and eventually on all-weather tracks. (See image of racing chair being used in competition in UK.)
Last Modified on 07/10/2015 00:52