This week (May 20th ) the Irish Wheelchair Association Sport (IWA-Sport ) and their clubs including the Galway Wheelers - begin the 100-day countdown to the Paralympic Games 2024.
IWA-Sport members plus volunteers in Galway and in clubs across Ireland are looking forward to the beginning of the Games in Paris on August 28, 2024. Every four years the Paralympic Games showcases the best para-athletes in the world. IWA-Sport are proud to celebrate their hopeful athletes, as well as the part they have played in their journey.
Galway Wheelers are an example of a multi-sport club offering children aged five to 15 years the opportunity to take part in regular sport.
IWA-Sport is the founding body of Paralympic Sport in Ireland, and the leading sports organisation for people with physical disabilities.
The organisation's main aim is to offer children and adults with physical disabilities the opportunity to take part in sport, therefore building lifelong positive habits, making friends, and having lots of fun in their clubs.
However, it also provides a pathway for those who wish to progress into elite athletes at a paralympic level.
According to Nicky Hamill, Director of IWA-Sport:
“This week marks the 100-day countdown to the 2024 Paralympic Games, so our members and volunteers are beginning to get excited and look forward to the events at the end of August. IWA-Sport has 20 clubs across Ireland from young children, teens to active adults and some elite athletes.
"Every week over 80 volunteers from across the country support our clubs to offer para-athletics, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. Sport is a massive part of our members’ lives, and we look forward to the Paralympic Games and the excitement it brings.
“IWA Sport is a stepping stone for many Paralympic para-athletes, many of whom joined our junior clubs as children and first became involved in sports with IWA. We are delighted that our members can now look up to the para-athletes and see them across the national media in August and September and that we get to cheer them on together.
"We wish Team Ireland the very best at the Games. We are also grateful for the ongoing support of Paralympics Ireland.”
IWA Sport has 17 sports clubs and three affiliate clubs which are run by a vibrant network of 80 volunteers. Without such support these clubs would be impossible to run.
Information on IWA-Sport Paralympic ambassadors as well as their Paralympic journey will be available next month on www.IWA.ie/sport and across Facebook, X and Instagram.
