IBSA World Games Part 2

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This is studio one on Vision Australia Radio.

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I'm approaching university. Please mind the gap by leaving the train and step onto the platform.

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Before removing heavy luggage and pushchairs.

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Hello and welcome to Studio One this week, from the closing ceremony of the 2023 International Blind Sport Association World Games.

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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, please. May I introduce your Master of Ceremonies, Derek Anderson CBE, DL. Thank you.

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Your Worshipful, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. Mr. president of Ipsa. Distinguished guests, most importantly athletes present. And all those who have supported the games. I bring greetings and salutations from Birmingham, from the Midlands and from the UK. Now. This is a.

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It's my great pleasure as I walk over to my office for the evening. Uh, to introduce you to some friends of mine who are from this area. Uh, they call Dance Dosti, all from Southeast Asia. Heritage, all blind and partially sighted. Everyone, please give a big cheer and dance along if you want to dance. Dusty.

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I can't, I can't.

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I mean, I didn't put that in I. So get back to me. Don't. I love you too, McGee. Ellie confided in me. Okay. You ain't gonna talk in. I'll try not to let you. Let me. You did not let me, I did. But I love the.

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This is Studio One on Vision Australia Radio.

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Hello, I'm Matthew.

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And I'm Sam.

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And this is Studio One, your weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view here on Vision Australia Radio on.

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This week's show, the.

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Second of two shows from the University of Birmingham here in the UK, where I shall be reporting from the International Blind Sports Association's 2023 World Games.

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The last two weeks, over 1100 athletes from 70 countries have gathered in the UK to compete across ten sports.

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Yes, and we'll be bringing you well, our selection of highlights and disappointments and match reports from the last two weeks of sport. As we always say at this point, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered in this episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about, you never know. Your story and your insight may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.

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Please email us studio one at Vision Australia. Org. That's studio one at Vision australia.org.

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This is studio one on Vision Australia Radio.

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I'd like to welcome on stage. Birmingham's own poet laureate, Jasmine E.

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Dorsey.

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Um, I see you in the audience, and I've witnessed many more of you. Um, so what I've written here is a letter of appreciation to all the athletes from the spectators from Birmingham. One thing that really struck me is the contrast. During play. There's silence and then out of play, there's a lot of noise. Quiet, please. Quiet while in play. And all at once the silence blows across the pitch. The hush echoes around the arena. And now it sounds like no one's here. Ready? Yes. Play. And then it starts. You take the shoulder. That will take you to the mat. Take a breath and then take the bat. You take courage and you take the risk. You take the swing. Even if you miss. You take a run forward. You make the call. Even if that means that you take a fall. Because you'll just get up again. You'll take a stand. You take your life back into your hands. You can't see the goal, but you take the shot. Because sight and the only sense that we've got the second you strike. That takes faith because you believe the ball will find its way. Stunned into silence, which is just as well, because we're still in play. And it's so quiet in here, almost like there's no audience in the arena. Almost like it didn't happen. Like we haven't seen you. But then the point is won. The goal is scored. The full time bell rings, and then that's when we roar.

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We stomp in the stalls. We clap. We share. We make it clear that we are here. We're listening, we're watching. We're taking notes. We want you to know you're not playing alone.

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This is studio one on Vision Australia radio.

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Hello there Sam.

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Hello there Matthew. So this is. Have you had too much sport to handle or are you ready for just another half an hour of more?

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I saw a fair amount of sport over the last few days, but McManus was on the show last week. Who is Australia's most capped blind cricket player? And he said to me, and I was there for I was there for three, uh, events in total. And he said to me, it's really difficult navigating between the events. So it's a large campus. And yeah, I got lost a couple of times in the rain, which was nice as well. But the games themselves went very well. There's been a lot of press coverage about them over here in the UK. Um, and also they were um, the various bits have been played out on channel four, which is one of the original UK national broadcasters. So I think in terms of profile, uh, the games were successful. Did any of it reach you Down Under? Sam?

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Unfortunately not. But one positive thing was that the, uh, generic sporting bodies did promote the, uh, living whatsits out of, uh, their, um, various sports. So, yes, the judo players got a lot of action on the, uh, Judo Australia website. And Cricket Australia promoted the men's and the women's uh games, uh, over in Birmingham, but, uh, no, unfortunately, uh, on the mainstream media, not a major. Yeah, not really a tremendous amount as far as they're concerned. I think athletes with the disability only come around when the Paralympics do, or maybe once in a while if there's a Commonwealth Games.

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Well, I think over here we've improved on that, uh, over the last ten years. But I think you would have been able to say that before the 2012 London Games. And I think that helped us pick up on, uh, disability and Paralympic sport.

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Well, you would have hoped that Sydney 2000 might have actually, um, helped that as well. And, I mean, it was said back in the day that those, those were the best Paralympics, um, so far. But, uh, no, it seems to have been sort of the case of, well, two steps forward and you're one step back, really, unfortunately, to to brush off a much loved, uh, saying.

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Mhm. Well, I'm very much, uh, as you know, in favor of the Hegelian, uh, philosophy that the world is getting better and the human race is getting better. So maybe we'll get there next time, Sam. Maybe Paris will be the catalyst we need. Um, not too many green and gold tracksuit tops, uh, on the podiums, uh, this year. But, uh, your highlight, I think, was the women's cricket, wasn't it?

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It's undeniably the highlight of the entire games, at least as far as Australia goes, because, uh, these ladies had never competed for Australia before. Uh, they, uh, team, you know. No, not never before had a tournament like this being, uh, brought. Uh. Yeah. Come about and it's, uh, it was astounding, really. I mean, their very first international game, they won and proceeded to. Yes, come second, which is really, really accredited. Yeah, a great credit to all of them. I mean, so many of them are so young as well. They're in their teens. They're still at high school.

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Um.

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Uh, the game, uh, at the weekend, uh, they played India and they were beaten by nine wickets. But I'm not sure that was entirely fair as, uh, rain stopped play. So I think it could be even argued that they might have done better if the weather had been more in their favor. But, you know, we we Brits set that up because we don't like Australian cricket.

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Yeah. This is always been a mystery to me. You have a game where rain stops play hmhm.

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Yeah, yeah. No.

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Exactly. Can't you actually have it, uh, underneath a giant tarp hole and or something like that? It's always been this remarkable, uh, kind of thing. It's like, yeah, maybe you could have, you know, sunshine stopping play.

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Well, football we play. You know, it takes a frozen pitch to stop them playing over here. They'll play in the rain. So maybe just, uh, cricket players should harden up. What do you think, Sam?

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Oh, yes. Yes. And and and wear a flashy rain hat.

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Yeah. There were some, um, Australian teams who were threatening a, um, to do well, and they didn't. I think the one you noted that the biggest disappointment to you were goalball, Sam.

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Goebel has been promising to get somewhere for, oh, God knows how long, and each time it's a case of yes, we in theory can get up there to close to the two fourth, maybe third, maybe second, and they come back with, um, maybe one win. And, uh, it's, uh, I mean, this is a sport that Australia has been playing now for something like 50 years or something like that. It's um, and, and so, yeah, it's, uh, I can't really sort of describe it. I mean, a lot of effort has been put into this, uh, sport, and a lot of people play this sport as well. So, yeah, I think they're really going to look at what other sides are doing. Well and what, uh, we're doing not so well.

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All right. So we're about to play a large highlight package of some of the events and some of the athletes who've taken part in for the last two weeks, the obviously, a lot of people who won, uh, their particular sport will get automatic qualification for Paris 2024 using the goalball team. How are they going to do so?

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I think as tends to happen, the women will probably get in there. The men in the past have struggled, but I mean, at least this year they did actually win one game, which is a positive thing. But they have often missed out on, uh, Paralympics in the past. And so, yeah, it it remains to be seen. I mean, yeah, I, I think that's still a long way before we classify it as one of Australia's great sports.

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Um.

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So, um, the other thing I had to ask you, Sam, I wanted to know, is we all know that in the UK. Uh, as Nick pointed out on last week's show, the funding for our disability sports, uh, comes mainly from lottery funded schemes. How is it all paid for? Uh, for the Australian teams? As I say, I was staying in a hotel for two weeks. I haven't flown around the world. Um, that and also, I mean, the the press department seemed to be working quite hard during the event. And there are all the bits that I can't see. The volunteers are brilliantly organised. Where does the funding for the Australian team come from?

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Mostly through donations and also government support. So the Australian Sports Commission has allocates a certain degree of funding to, uh, the Paralympic or to Paralympics Australia and, uh, to other sporting bodies. And where things have really, really changed in the last 20 or so years is that generic sporting bodies have come on board and they actually fund the disability sports out of their own pocket. So out of the funding that is also allocated. So a lot of it is government and a lot of it is also donations. In this case it was a real mixture. So uh, Tennis Australia and the Australian Sports Commission and Cricket Australia funded part of the RFS. But a lot of the uh, rest of it had to be fundraised. And to the degree that two weeks before the ladies cricketers, uh, left, we were still fundraising for them. So. And just something simple as, uh, yes, we, we did a trivia night, for example, that, uh, he's got the last bit of funding through for the, uh, women's cricket team.

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Wow. I didn't know that. So it's amazing you're quite vocal and eloquent on the future of the funding of, uh, sport in, uh, disability sport in Australia. What does the future look like?

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I think the more people that actually see, uh, the, the sports here and see what, uh, people with a disability can do, the more support it will get. And also, as I said, I mean, it's, uh, it's been a game changer that, uh, major sporting organisations have actually jumped on board and do support us now. It took quite a while for us to be taken seriously. And, uh, it's. Yeah, it was a lot of this, uh, coming down to people like Russell Short at the Australian Institute of Sport when being taken seriously and as an athlete. And yes, I suppose to a certain degree, maybe me over there at the Institute of Sport being taken seriously as an athlete and as former athletes have got older and, uh, become coaches and administrators, that experience has come through as well. So, uh, and with respectability in, in sporting circles, what that basically means is also the funding comes as well. The pressure is, uh, put we don't have to fight as hard for our funding because we have members of able bodied organizations that fight for our funding for us.

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All right. Well, listen, here's, uh, highlights of the games, and, uh, we'll speak to you on the other side.

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So this is studio one on Vision Australia.

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Radio goalball are on the way. We'll be Korea in black. To block left to right against Japan in black, but with red on the top and the bottom of the shirt, there's no an echo. Goes early trying to score early, but is denied. Reveal who the three lineups are, who the three players are on court for each nation.

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Goalball is the only sport at the iBSf World Games that was specifically developed for blind people a game of speed, skill and strength for people with vision impairments. Players tries to score goals by quickly and precisely firing a 1.25kg ball across the court and defending shots from the opposing team, using their entire bodies, throwing themselves to the floor in the right position. Well, that's what it says on the website anyway, Sam. It is a fast and violent game and from what you tell me, it bloomin well hurts as well.

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It can do if you're not wearing the padding. That padding is really, really needed. It's how would you describe it? It's kind of a really strange combination of basketball, American football, and a whole lot of other things as well added into it. I mean, that goalball 1.25 kilos slamming into you is, uh, yeah, quite a force of, well, a force of balls.

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I thought it would be like a nice sport because they seem to be lying down. But that's not how it works, is it?

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Well, you can hear them crunching down when it hits things because, I mean, yeah, you're wearing padding so you don't just sort of quietly lay in front of the, uh, the oncoming object. It sort of seems counterproductive to me as well. I mean, why would anyone, you know, all we're trying to do, you know, normally is, is avoid fast moving objects. But no, this is quite the opposite to.

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Get in the way of them. So the finals of both men's and women's goalball tournaments took place on Sunday, the only events taking place. Have you heard of the expression Sam being sent to Coventry?

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No. Not really.

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It means it's kind of like being in the doghouse. Um, uh. Coventry famously the subject of the song Ghost Town. It's about 17 miles from Birmingham, and that's where they plonked, uh, the the Gold ball. So the Gold Ball teams had been sent to Coventry. Um, in the men's final, Japan beat South Korea. In the women's final, China beat Japan. Both winning teams progress automatically to the Paralympics in Paris next year.

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You know, that is actually good news for both Australian teams because we play in the same league. As far as the other qualifying events go, uh.

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In Asia, specifically Pacific. Yeah. Okay.

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So they're already gone. And that basically means that we don't have to beat them to get into the Paralympics pool.

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Okay. Now me and Jim Kim will go again for South Korea. Magic keeps it out. And they're just gonna hold on to this without the shot. It's the buzzer. Sounds. Jubilation and joy for Japan yesterday in the semifinal. They didn't even know if they were going to be finalists. It was only in the last minute of normal time. They took it to overtime. And then in overtime, within the last minute of the second period, they would secure their place in the final. But no such dramas here. Drama free as Japan, a gold medalist in the men's tournament. They're on court and celebrate it. And why wouldn't they? Joyous occasion and a joyous scene for Japan, who have beaten Korea in the final.

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Brilliant performance.

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This is studio one on Vision Australia Radio.

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In judo. Both the men's and women's competitions were won by Kazakhstan, with Uzbekistan in second place.

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Men's football to bring you live coverage of this event. Showpiece final with the floodlights on. Crowd gathering in the stand on the far side, the players line up. The volunteers stretch out the flags of Argentina and China.

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20 nations took part in the men's football competition, including Colombia, Thailand, Turkey and Mali, as well as all the European and South American sides you might expect. In the final, Argentina beat China on penalties after neither side was able to score in normal time.

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Here we go. It's in the top corner.

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Oh that's great.

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Argentina on the world champions.

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Oh, that's a fantastic penalty with that pressure on him to go that high. He's gone in the top right hand corner as he's looking at it. Top left as a goalkeeper. There's uh there's bodies all over the floor now. Oh there's cheers on the other end as well. Well, it wasn't a classic final by any means, but, uh. The record books won't show that. They'll just show that it's a win for Argentina.

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What a way to finish it. Bowels from the.

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This is studio one on Vision Australia. Radio.

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Chess.

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Chess. Oh, chess. I'm looking forward to this one again. Another sport you can do sitting down.

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Romanian edition. Obiano won both the gold medal in individual competition and silver in the team competition. Interestingly, there were three female competitors in the last 16.

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Now, as you can probably see, we are joined now on stage by the Inner Vision Orchestra. They're going to be with us all evening playing music for you before that.

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Albert Einstein did not deny.

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That. Hogan. And massacred all of those.

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And so I'm going to join a blue guy on stage. Um, you are the sitar player to the stars. You've worked with some amazing artists, people you will all have heard of. Um, just tell us a name. Drop a few people do.

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Should I drop them?

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Yeah, you tell them.

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Go on. Okay. Who is the Stevie Wonder? Paul McCartney. Boy George. And Disorient, which is Linda's group, My voice group. And so a lot of the future sound of London.

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We, uh, we come to that moment and this is a sad moment, I have to say, where I suppose we need to pass the baton on from Birmingham to the president and onto the next games. May I invite you back on stage? His worship, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and the president of Ipsa. To help us with the transition from Birmingham. On stage is the representative flag. Officer. Which is now being folded. In the time honoured way. So it can be handed over formally to the Lord Mayor of Birmingham in the first instance. The Lord mayor receives the flag and passes it on to Sally Barka, a leader and organiser in the UK, who in turn passes the flag and all that it represents to the president of Ipsa. And with that. We formally effect the transition. Thank you.

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So with that, the 2023 iBSf World Games came to a close. I have to say it's slightly concerning because normally what they do at the end of a ceremony like that is past the flag onto the next city to host games. I shall get some, uh, to investigate that for us. I really enjoyed my trip to Birmingham and it was great. I think my favorite was the men's football as referred to last week. They sound a bit like chattering penguins when the ball is in play. Right. Right. That's your lot for this week. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a show entitled You Don't Look Blind. Not all disabilities are visible. A lot of people living with blindness and low vision don't necessarily walk around waving a white stick. And anyway, what's a blind person supposed to look like? We discuss between now and then. Please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered in this episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about, you never know. Your story and your insight might help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.

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You can email Studio One at Vision Australia. Org that's studio one at Vision australia.org.

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Virgin Australia Radio gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation, or Studio One.