Equity and Inclusion in Grassroots Sport for Dyspraxic Children
As a PE teacher with a ten-year-old son with Dyspraxia, I am heartbroken as to how many negative experiences of PE and Sports there are for so many people within the dyspraxic community. I also despair at hearing the sweeping generalisation that ‘people with dyspraxia are bad at sports’. I strongly believe that there is a place for everyone in sport, so why are dyspraxic and other neurodiverse individuals far too frequently ostracised and not given the opportunity to find that place?
With 18 years of teaching experience, I’ve seen the uphill battle that schools face and how little curriculum time PE is afforded, and whilst I could write a separate article on my thoughts on Physical Education pedagogy, PE lessons should be the spark.
Together, we can be the foundation for lasting participation and joy
- They’re the glimpse of a bigger world of opportunity that every child deserves to explore.
- Physical educators and sports coaches must fight for sport for all - fair access, equal opportunity, and a culture where no one is left behind.
- PE should ignite a lifelong love of exercise, fuelled by stronger ties with community sport.
The benefits of physical activity - physical, social, and mental are well known and especially valuable for dyspraxic children. Yet when sport becomes a negative experience, feelings of exclusion are exacerbated.
My son Arthur is fortunate he has found rugby, a sport he loves, within a wonderfully welcoming club that champions inclusivity. Asked why, he replied, “I’m a big lad and don’t know my own strength, but that works in rugby.”
Rugby has given him belonging beyond a hobby, in a world where he often struggles to fit in. But why do so few dyspraxic children share this positive experience, particularly in grassroot team sports?
Grassroots sport
Frequently in grassroots sport, it seems to be that the development of inclusive and mixed ability teams is overridden by a culture of promoting competition and elevating the most able children, which is in direct conflict with inclusion. It seems that in some sports club,s inclusion is disregarded with promotion of competition and most-able player development favoured over whole group participation.
Neurodiverse people make up between 15-20% of our population, yet proportionally don’t seem to be represented to this degree in all levels of sport. As sports coaches for children’s teams, we need to be reflective in our strategies to avoid division and elitism.
Inclusive coaching strategies develop all, laying their foundation to long-term participation, whilst non-inclusive strategies develop a minority.
Progression through to elite level sport will still happen for those super-talented few, and who is to say that can’t also be true for dyspraxic children, when given the time, patience and opportunity to succeed.
Children can also learn a lot from each other from a pedagogical point of view, in both technical skills and personal attributes, particularly in team sports; segregating groups too early can damage this. Our dyspraxic children have to literally pick themselves up every single day and work so much harder than their neurotypical counterparts for the same reward; that resilience and work ethic alone are attributes that I would want as part of my team!
So, where does rugby succeed in this, whilst some other sports struggle?
The RFU (rugby governing body) promotes the core values of TREDS (Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship), which sits at the heart of community rugby clubs.
From our experience with Arthur, he needs additional time and patience to hone key skills through repetition and given rugby’s emphasis on TREDS and inclusion, he is afforded this.
The RFU (rugby governing body) promotes the core values of TREDS (Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship), which sits at the heart of community rugby clubs.
From our experience with Arthur, he needs additional time and patience to hone key skills through repetition and given rugby’s emphasis on TREDS and inclusion, he is afforded this.
The RFU have also partnered with Neurodiverse Sport (www.neurodiversesport.com) an organisation that promotes deliberate inclusion and equitable opportunities and strives for this to become the norm. This collaboration has produced an abundance of resources for coaches on the RFU website, including a 19-page dyspraxia toolkit (www.englandrugby.com/run/coaching/coach-resources)
I recently listened to a Sky Sports interview with England Rugby player Ellis Genge talking candidly about the challenges of his dyspraxia and his advice was to ‘find your super strength and hone in on it,’ he was talking specifically about rugby, but the same notion can be applied across sport in general.
The benefits of participating in sport and physical activity are huge, particularly for dyspraxic children. All those involved in Sport in whatever capacity, therefore, have a civic and moral responsibility to ensure that ALL children can access grassroots sport, find ‘the one’ for them and are in an environment where they feel wanted, included and valued as individuals.
Inclusivity needs to be deliberate and normalised across all sports, not just an ignored buzz word hidden deep down in a sports club’s code of conduct, so that children not only find a sport they love, but stay there, with Arthur’s experience of sport as a dyspraxic child becoming the norm and not the exception.
For the Physical Educators and local club coaches, I’ll leave you with this thought…will your children remember scorelines?
Or will they remember being part of a team where every child belonged, where mixed abilities came together, passion for the sport was nurtured, and success was earned through grit, resilience, and a relentless work ethic? One memory fades with the scoreline, the other shapes character for life. Which legacy do you want to create?
Written by Sarah Bromley
