By Peter Townson/Staff Reporter
Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) secretary general HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani joined Qatar Paralympic Committee (QPC) secretary general Hassan al-Ansari, Sasol and the South African Paralympic Basketball team (WSBA) to launch the ‘Being Disabled means being Definitely Able’ campaign, aimed at raising awareness of disabled athletes and inspiring young people with disabilities in Qatar.
Some of the wheelchair-bound athletes
Over the coming week, athletes from the WBSA and the QPC will be participating in a number of events as well as visiting schools including the Shafallah Centre for Children with Special Needs and the Al Noor Institute for the Blind.
The campaign will culminate in a ‘Chairs versus Champs’ exhibition match on Thursday evening at 6pm in City Center, emulating the game which saw the team defeat the Rugby World Cup winning Springboks team in 2008.
Sasol has been sponsoring the WSBA for the past six years and has worked in various locations around the world to educate people about disabled sports.
Sheikh Saoud explained that the campaign will complement the authorities’ efforts to raise awareness of disabled sports and that it will become a long term initiative for the country.
“We are proud to have partnered with Sasol for the ‘Definitely Able’ campaign and hope that through this campaign, we are successful in changing lives for the better. If you believe, as we do, that sport has the power to effect real change in people’s lives; the WSBA is a wonderful example of how that change can be achieved.”
“Further we highly believe that we can build up a platform for future and fruitful co-operation between QPC and the WBSA in this event and beyond,” he added.
Captain of the WSBA team, Marcus Retief explained that he hopes the team’s visit can inspire young people here today to realise that “there is life after disability.”
“While it is challenging being a person living with disabilities, as an athlete, it’s an ever bigger challenge,” he said, noting “on the team we all inspire each other every day – nobody feels sorry for themselves at all.”
Retief also spoke to Gulf Times about the upcoming London Olympic and Paralympic Games, saying that the team is extremely excited about the event.
“I had the honour of taking part in the games in Beijing and it was brilliant – it is everyone’s dream to represent their country and we are looking forward to London,” he said, adding “I visited London earlier this year and saw all the preparations – it is going to be incredible and we cannot wait.”
The athlete, who became disabled following a motorbike accident, also said that he believed the Olympics and Parlaympics should be brought to the region in the future.
South African Ambassador Saad Cachalia also attended the launch, expressing his hope that the campaign will represent a boost to bilateral ties between Qatar and South Africa, and that it will contribute towards relations reaching “a new level” in the fields of culture, sport and education.
Country president of Sasol, Marjo Louw saidd: “The ‘Definitely Able’ campaign focuses on what one can accomplish regardless of his or her disability, that everyone is able, definitely able to be what they want to be and to do what they want to do.”
“Through this campaign, we would like to create a very positive attitude amongst people from all walks of life,” he added.
Al-Ansari commented: “Qatar continues to build on its strong commitment to sports for all, both disabled and able bodied. The QPC encourages both youths and adults to become active in sports, as it promotes health and fosters good relationships through sportsmanship. The support of the Qatar government, along with the QOC, the QPC and many school programmes now offer such an opportunity.”
He explained that Qatar was currently working on forming a wheelchair basketball team itself, and expressed his hope that the visit of the WSBA will provide a major inspiration to the programme.