The reception room of the Arnhem Hall in Papendal is filled with expectant looks. More than fifty athletes with disabilities between the ages of 12 and 35 are welcomed by former paracyclist Matthijs Drenth. “For some of you, your top sports career will start here,” he says from a podium. He proudly talks about his own career and the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro two years ago. He can still see himself walking on the beach with his teammates, a coconut to drink from in his hand.
This is how it can go for the participants of the Paralympic talent day that NOC-NSF organized on Saturday in the top sports center in Papendal. But that’s not necessary. “We are of course looking for talent, but we are also careful with those who drop out,” says Eelke van der Wal, performance manager of the Paralympic sports. “It is nice to win Paralympic medals, but being able to offer someone perspective for sports is much more important.” This way, parasport can grow in breadth, for example by connecting athletes with a club or coach in their region.
All coaches of NOC-NSF and the various sports associations radiate that fun comes first. In the words of para-athletics national coach Joep Janssen: “First the fun and then the experience of success, not the other way around.” The coaches provide information, directions and encouragement. In various rounds, aspiring para-athletes can become acquainted with sports such as para table tennis, boccia – similar to jeux de boules -, para rowing (on machines) and para cycling.
In various rounds, aspiring para-athletes could become acquainted with sports such as paratennis, boccia, pararowing and paracycling.
Eric Brinkhorst
Fair playing field
Parabasketball is popular. At the back of the room, wheelchairs whiz past each other under the baskets. One of them contains 20-year-old Fee Lentze, who also showed up at a talent day four years ago. She played wheelchair tennis and was therefore already agile on two wheels. Parabasketball grabbed her immediately. Lentze now lives in Papendal, so that she can train with the Dutch team in addition to studying. She enjoys accompanying the day that itself marked the start of a sports career for her. In two years she hopes to participate in the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. “We won the European Championship last year so we are on the right track, I hope I can be there.”
Donna Schunselaar makes a good impression in basketball, she can easily score because of her height. As a result of a traffic accident, she cannot bend her left lower leg properly. That’s where ‘classification’ comes into play. There is a system behind this that should ensure the most fair playing field possible.
Various classifiers walk around to give advice about which sport is suitable for which disability, or to do tests. How restrictive is the disability? And for which sport is it more or less suitable? If Schunselaar were to play basketball, she would likely receive the highest handicap rating of 4.5. A team may have a total of 14 points, which would leave only 9.5 ‘handicap points’ to be distributed among the other four players.
It works differently in every sport. Parasnowboarding involves calculating time, explains rehabilitation doctor Sandra Titulaer. Athletes with more mobility have an advantage and therefore start with a time disadvantage. Many sports work with different classes. In parabasketball, the greater the handicap, the fewer points. Athletes with a lot of points therefore really have to bring something extra.
In parabasketball, the greater the handicap, the fewer points.
Eric Brinkhorst
Electric skateboards
Before her accident, Schunselaar played football in Portugal, but due to her competitive spirit, she finds it difficult to enter able-bodied sports. “I can’t really participate at a high level anymore and when I participate at a lower level I get frustrated, so I now want to see what is possible here.” She is especially curious about snowboarding, which she has to do on electric skateboards in the sports hall due to the lack of snow and mountains.
No matter how much emphasis is placed on fun, for many of the talent day participants the Paralympic Games are a dream. “The Invictus Games would also be very nice, but you had to have been sent for that,” says 25-year-old ex-soldier Jacobus van den Bosch. He’s not. In an industrial accident five years ago, his right foot became trapped and he suffered chronic nerve pain. Ultimately, his lower right leg was amputated in February. Now he wants to set new goals.
His willpower is fine, the coaches also see. He is so fanatical about basketball that he ends up on the ground in a wheelchair, and in sitting volleyball he also makes a thud when he tries to handle a ball and forgets for a moment that he is not wearing his prosthesis. “My friends sometimes say: you should not be afraid of your disability, but your disability should be afraid of you,” laughs Van den Bosch. He hopes to join a sport where he qualifies for a sports prosthesis, which would otherwise cost him thousands of euros.
You shouldn’t be afraid of your disability, but your disability should be afraid of you
Long jump and sprinting
Van den Bosch goes to the athletics track to watch, but because there is no sports prosthesis for him there, he can only participate in the shot put. After wheelchair basketball, para-snowboarding and para-cycling, Donna Schunselaar will also take a look at para-athletics. She excels in long jumping and sprinting.
For many talent day participants, the Paralympic Games are a dream.
Eric Brinkhorst
Afterwards she beams, and she is not the only one. After four rounds, athletes leave Papendal with a smile from ear to ear and a TeamNL bag with information brochures. In an app they can indicate the sport that they liked best and that they would like to continue with. Van den Bosch already has an invitation to play basketball again in Papendal later this month. And Schunselaar will soon go to another paraday in Zoetermeer to snowboard in real snow.
