“Playing in my Shoes” clinic highlights inclusion and accessibility for disc golf

Rainbow Park played host to a different kind of disc golf event today. (Sunday)

The annual Playing in My Shoe’s event reaches out to all abilities, ages and income levels to promote inclusion and accessibility to disc golf.

“I think it’s huge, with disc golf specifically, it’s a very grassroots kind of sport,” said local organizer Michael Trasolini.

“A lot of the courses we have in the province and in the country are put together by people just like myself, volunteers that just love the sport. Even just taking on this event for myself, has been a big educational opportunity to learn about how to make disc golf more accessible, how accessible are our courses and how we can educate people on the topic.”

During the event, participants were given the opportunity to try throws simulating how someone who is differently-abled may throw, such as:

• Wheelchair throw
• Wrong arm throw
• Blindfold throw
• Earplug throw
• Taped hand throw

“I think it’s something that people don’t really think about or have in their minds when they’re approaching sport,” Trasolini said.

“When I had the opportunity to do this event, I kind of did a little bit of reflecting on the courses we had in town. We’ve got some courses at school fields, nice and flat, pretty easy to access, then we’ve got the likes of Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, that would be quite a bit more difficult to access.”

For the event held today, Trasolini said the main goal is to give people a bit of empathy.

“The point of the clinic itself, as far as the demonstrations and the throws that people get to try, are just to understand the viewpoints and some of the challenges that people face on a daily basis,” he said.

The event was held in 34 locations across Canada.