Because you only watch adapted sports once every four years.
Twelve-year-old Angelo loves everything about sports, from playing sledge hockey with his friends to watching his favourite baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays, on TV.
But if you ask him whether he’s seen sledge hockey or all-abilities baseball on TV, he’ll respond with, “I don’t think so.”
Angelo, who has spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy, mild hearing loss, and vision loss, has been playing different adapted sports from an early age. It’s no surprise that whether on the field or on the ice, Angelo is unstoppable.
“He used to play recreational sledge hockey,” says Angelo’s dad, Robert. “But he was so good that they recommended he play on a competitive team. Now, he travels all over Ontario playing hockey.”
Fans of adapted sports, like Angelo, often have to wait four years before seeing their favourite athletes with disabilities on TV at the Paralympics.
“I think the media should broadcast more [adapted sports],” says Angelo. “They could show kids with disabilities other sports they can try.”
He also believes that showing adapted sports on TV, on social media, and in advertising would encourage more people with disabilities to participate.
“Should they sign up? Yes!” he says. “I think they would have a lot of fun.”