British Sign Language translation of:
UK Deaf Sport is pleased to read that the ICSD (International Committee of Sport for the Deaf) is committed to ensure that the future of Deaf Sport is secured through the choice of partnership with mainstream organisations.
ICSD President, Craig Crowley describes the world of sport as a "web of partnerships between event hosts and governing bodies, between national teams, regional confederations, sports federations, media, sponsors, government, anti-doping agencies and more. The world of sport is one big team."
Crowley explains that Deaf Sport has been playing alone and it cannot do the best for deaf athletes by choosing a path of isolation.
UK Deaf Sport was established in 2003 by individuals and Deaf Sports Organisations in the UK who recognised that Deaf sport in the UK had been playing alone and now wanted to be part of the "team".
During our first three years, we worked with deaf sports organisations to help them build stronger relationships with their respective National Governing Bodies. Unfortunately, losing our funding from UK Sport meant that we had to scale down our efforts and concentrate on preparations for the 2009 Deaflympics.
However, we have continued to encourage partnerships with NGBs and we were delighted when Sport England announced that we are to receive almost £280,000 of funding for the next three years to enable us to continue and consolidate our work to support NGBs to become more inclusive of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. We will not be working alone, we are part of a consortium of other disability sports organisations under the lead of the English Federation for Disability Sport, where UK Deaf Sport will provide the expertise and lead for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.
The other part of our work is to prepare Deaf athletes for the Deaflympic Games and we achieve this through the GBDOC (Great Britain Deaflympics Organising Committee) and our Sports Science Committee.
The cancellation of the recent Winter Deaflympics in Slovakia and the withdrawal of hosts for the forthcoming Summer and Winter games has created a period of uncertainty about the future of our Deaflympic Games. We are steadfastly committed to continue building partnerships and becoming a team-player in the world of sport. Deaf Sport can be a key player, offering expertise and providing opportunities in partnership.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with the ICSD in building new partnerships that enable us to bring new opportunities for deaf athletes, such as a chance to compete in the Commonwealth Games. Partnerships are about raising the visibility of Deaf athletes. The past 15 years have seen Deaf athletes become excluded, invisible and unserved while others have prospered. We support the ICSD when they say that we must end our isolation.
We encourage our deaf athletes and their organisations to be seen in mainstream and other disability events and competitions. We must be visible so that our government, the media and sponsors can know and support deaf sport.
Next week I will attend ICSD Congress in Rome where guests from the IOC, IPC, international sports federations and the World Federation of the Deaf will join us. We will engage in lively debate and discuss difficult issues. We want to rejoin the 'team' of world sports and stop playing alone.
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