MOST little kids want to do whatever their big brothers and sisters are doing, and one local mum of four is making sure those with disabilities can, too.
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Currabubula’s Veronica Filby is setting up a Wheels and Walkers Family Sports Group, after her six-year-old son learned he wouldn’t be able to join his brothers on the soccer field.
Lucas uses a wheelchair and walker due to cerebral palsy, and would have loved to pull on a jersey like his brothers Hamish, 8, and Joshua, 6.
Lucas went along to tryouts at the start of the soccer season, but it became clear his wheels and the field wouldn’t mix.
“We came away thinking, ‘Oh well, he can’t do that’, but he was so excited to put that shirt on and put the socks on and be part of a team like his big brothers were doing,” Mrs Filby said.
“A couple of weeks later, I thought, ‘Why don’t I start something that he can go to and play different sports, and also that his brothers can go to?’”
Mrs Filby wants to set up a weekly event for children aged 5 to 12 – those in wheelchairs or walkers and their able-bodied siblings – to play sports together.
She and a Cerebral Palsy Alliance sports development manager from Sydney will hold a come-and-try day on June 29 to meet interested families.
Mrs Filby is thinking it could be one hour a week of different sports, possibly at Tamworth Sports Dome, during school terms.
She hopes even people from nearby towns such as Gunnedah and Quirindi will join in.
“They can come along one night a week and play, in an accessible space like the sports dome, a range of activities they can utilise what skills they have and develop more,” she said.
“Kids in walkers are often great at soccer, because they can use their feet more than their upper bodies, but then there are kids who can’t use their legs but can use their hands for table tennis and badminton and things like that.”
Mrs Filby is no stranger to community work and volunteering.
She’s on maternity leave from her council position as the Volunteer Referral Service co-ordinator, and was heavily involved in the establishment of Tamworth Adventure Playground.
Mrs Filby said she’d love to get a sponsor on board so the program could be free and even supply the kids with team shirts.
“I haven’t really found any events or programs that suited my child being in a wheelchair or a walker at his age,” Mrs Filby said.
“Lucas’s cerebral palsy is quite severe and … he’s completely reliant on equipment to move around, but his cognitive ability is such that he’s aware of what he’s missing out on.
“He’s very determined to do things.
“I can’t let him miss out, if all it takes is for me to spend a bit of time on a program to benefit him and other kids.”
- The come-and-try night will be held on Thursday, June 29, 5-7pm at Tamworth Sports Dome. Call Veronica Filby on 0427 000 633 to book in or for more details.