Bournemouth University (BU) hosted a Sports Day for visually impaired children which took place on Talbot Campus on 30 April 2026.
22 children aged between 7 and 15 years old from across Dorset experienced a day of sporting activities, some of which they had only played for the first time, including goalball and racket sports.
The event, which is in its second year was organised in collaboration with Dr Ben Powis, Senior Lecturer in Sport at BU and an expert in disability sport research and Vision Support Services, part of Dorset Council who work with children and young people with moderate to profound vision impairments.
Dr Powis explained: “Frustratingly, visually impaired children do not get the same opportunities to take part in sport in their mainstream schools as their sighted peers. This event allows them to try out specially adapted sports early on in their lives so that they get the chance to enjoy being active and then progress to joining clubs in their local community.”
The feelings of being excluded from sport in mainstream schools can have a lasting effect on some children with visual impairments as Charlotte Wingfield a mother of one of the children participating in the sports day said: “Sports day at school is usually really traumatising for my daughter, as she is always coming last and being left behind really upsets her. So, coming here and seeing her feeling happy and relaxed and normal with other children with similar disabilities is amazing, not just for her but for me as a parent too.”
BU Sport Management and Sport Coaching students were on hand to explain the rules of the games to children who were using sports equipment for the first time including a sound ball that contains bells which make a noise when the ball is in motion. This allows the players to hear and track the ball’s movement.
BU student Tabby Sinclair studying for a BSc in Sport Coaching said: “As a student, today’s experience has given me the opportunity to coach children with different abilities. I’ve never coached children with a visual impairment before and to practice communicating differently and learning a new way of coaching is really insightful.”
Opportunities for BU students to work with a diversity of abilities is also adding to their portfolio of skills, helping them gain an edge on the competitive careers market in sports teaching, as student Bow Masters explains: “I will be starting a PGCE in September to become a PE Teacher and to have opportunities like this where I can experience adapting session plans, which will be required in some of the special educational needs (SEN) work I do, is really valuable.”
Several children were able to demonstrate their improved skills as a result of joining their own sports teams in their local community as Kerra Knight, a Habilitation Specialist for Dorset Council’s Vision Support Services explained: “We can now see the rewards from last year’s Sports Day, where children who tried out sports for the first time are now active members of clubs in their own community and they can finally feel part of a team. It has also helped to build confidence with other vision impaired children and young people when they're often the only child with a vision impairment in their school. Parents are also benefiting by meeting other parents with children of mixed abilities and can share knowledge and support each other.”
After the goalball and racket sport sessions, children returned to the sports hall in the afternoon to take part in a variety of athletics events, including a final team relay in which everyone took home a gold medal.
The future aim of the event is to run it annually and to introduce local VI children to different sports, as well as continuing to teach mixed-ability coaching in the degree programmes at BU.
For further information about the sport courses, including BSc Sport Coaching and BSc Sport Management courses, please visit the BU website.
