Sports fans who have it tougher

10:40am Friday 11th April 2008

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It is half-term and while most children are enjoying a quiet break, one sports centre is a hive of activity.

Youngsters who could compete in the 2012 Paralympics practise at a Gifted and Talented camp at Angmering School, near Littlehampton.

They have varying levels of disability - most use wheelchairs and one is hearing impaired - but they all have a passion for sport and have been specifically invited to take part.

Alison Groves, of the Southern Area Sports partnership which organised the two-day event, explained: "We want to improve the sporting opportunities for young people who have disabilities."

Alongside well-established sports such as table tennis, running and throwing events which all feature in the Paralympics, are the lesserknown ones of boccia, a soft-ball equivalent of short-mat bowls, and new-age curling, which sees players sliding plastic stones with ball-bearings on the bottom towards a target.

One participant, 15-year-old Tyler Paul from Worthing, has taken his love of sport a step further and is studying to be a coach for other disabled children.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair he put his skills with a table tennis bat to work and won bronze at last year's National Junior Games for students with disabilities.

Tyler dreams of representing Team GB at the Paralympics, and through his BTEC sport and young apprenticeship studies at Angmering School he travels to primary schools to coach disabled children both in tactics and the psychological approaches to aid success.

He said: "I think sport helps keep you going. It improves your confidence and keeps you happy."

Tyler would like to see more disabled people encouraged to play sport but Gary Marlow, managing director of Global Tennis, which helped organise the event, said: "I think things have got to change at the top level .

"At the moment, there are no scouts looking round these types of camps for the best disabled athletes and putting them forward for further training and to possibly represent their country."

Katy Russell, the Sussex County Sports Partnership's disabled sports development officer, said it was clear the youngsters were getting a lot out of the sessions.

She said: "They love playing sport.

I think young disabled children can benefit from sport just as much as non-disabled children.

One parent, Sue Berry, whose son Matthew is a keen boccia player, praised the school's facilities and support for disabled children.

She was so impressed she moved her family from Hertfordshire so that Matthew, who has duchenne muscular dystrophy, could go there.

Pupil Tim Hayes, 14, from Goring, Worthing, said: "The school is great.

They do a lot of sport here and it is rightly recognised as one of the best sports colleges in the country."