From the News Editor
In the last few months, I’ve been learning about the virus. It is unpredictable and it has the potential to spread fast like wildfire. To minimise the risks of transmission, I follow these simple steps – eat healthy, exercise, practise social distancing and actively participate in hygiene procedures. Not only that, I also ensure that my home is as sustainable as possible.
I open my windows and blinds every morning. YES, EVERY MORNING. I love the winter sun rays on my skin and smell the fresh rosy air that comes through my office windows. I look at my gardens when my eyes need to rest from eyestrain and I like to decorate my office with house plants too. These are sustainable alternatives to better air quality and natural heater free of charge in the home!
We are now heading into July - the very middle of winter. When news of the coronavirus came to Australia, internet has started becoming the most heavily used platform for our deaf community to rely on; people looked to public information surrounding the virus topic and its case numbers.
As Australia’s only national
deaf sports
organisation, we are now striving more than ever to ensure we have a close working relationship with everyone. We want to make sure that our sport members are regularly updated and equipped with the right information as we work with Sport Australia, the Government, its counterparts and our stakeholders.
We have dedicated a COVID-19 page on our website – please,
PLEASE
, use this for your one-stop information point in the future. It is based on all things sports, deaf and mainstreamed, with necessary information in Auslan readily available as well.
I hope that you will enjoy reading the rest of Active Hands – we have some more new updates to share. Grab your herbal tea and bask in the rays of vitamin D; you’d find yourself reading for a few minutes.
Yours in sports news,
Lauren Townsend
Media & Community Liaison Officer
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General Manager's Report
Hello again as we embrace the winter months without much sport activity going on. A frustrating time but our priority is we have to manage getting this dangerous COVID - 19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
It is causing great difficulties for all of us, even though we are more able to get out and about (except for Victoria), we have to be mindful of hygiene and our health. As mentioned in our last Active Hands newsletter, social isolation is having a serious effect on our lives, not only communication and relationships with family, friends and workmates but also mental health support. Sport is a big part of our lives and helps us with feeling good, being with our mates and being active.
If you are able to get out and about, hope you are also able to get back to sport activities. Make sure you prepare your fitness plan well so that you do not get injured when start training and competitions.
Our team has done a lot of work in building or updating our resources, websites, networking with our members and external stakeholders (Sport Australia, National and State Sport Organisations, etc), seeking funding support for our organisation’s survival as well as new projects. You will find further detail on our work below.
DSA has created a ‘Return to Sport’ paper which outlines guidelines and plans on how everyone can return to sport safely. Please check this out and you can find it
here
.
With the COVID-19 impact, we have continued to make some adjustments to our work priorities, funding and managing our programs as best we can.
Zoom meetings has become a popular way to connect with our members and others and we have used this for our Board meetings, NDSO meetings, staff meetings and also for SDSO meetings happening this month.
Keep in touch and yours in sport,
Phil Harper
General Manager
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Zoom meeting with NDSO and DSA
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Zoom meeting with SDSC and NSWDS
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Deaf Sports Australia News
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Current climate
DSA was able to get JobKeeper funding successfully to assist with retaining staff, however the working hours have been reduced during May so budget forecast is not seriously impacted. DSA is not getting any income and is continuing to spend, which requires budgeting carefully and applying for grants and funding to help keep the deaf sports services running. DSA have assistance until the end of September and is awaiting update on pending application towards JobKeeper 2.0 which was recently announced.
DSA have also applied for COVID-19 recovery packages from national government as well as Queensland, NSW and Victoria governments. To date, most applications have been successful and DSA is waiting on outcomes on other applications.
DSA have also assisted DeafACT with a grant application to establish a part-time Sport Development Officer position in the ACT, so hoping this comes off which will be great for their community. DSA is also in contact with all the State Deaf Sport Organisations to offer assistance where possible and is exploring the idea of establishing a presence in the Northern Territory.
Program updates
With restrictions easing, DSA has just started to work with schools, especially in NSW and QLD, but not yet in Victoria. DSA have been working with Sport Australia on their Sporting Schools Program to ensure the organisation is included as a program provider for schools with deaf and hard of hearing students – there has been some success and we are now listed among all the other National Sport Organisations - see
here
for more information.
If you are connected with schools that have deaf and hard of hearing students, please let them know.
Collaboration and networking updates
DSA continues to work closely with Sport Australia and the National Disability Sport Organisations to find ways to better share resources, knowledge and skills. We are now at a point to employ an ‘analyst’ to assist with developing a strategy and channels for improvements in our work both individually and collectively.
Contact and relationships with the NSOs has been tricky because of COVID-19 restrictions and many NSO impacted with staff reductions or changes which have slowed down their programs and services. Communication and networking has been minimal but is now starting to improve as DSA is slowly getting back to community sport activities.
Our collaboration work with Sports Inclusion Australia and Blind Sports Australia continues with the NDIS ILC funded project nearing completion and DSA have just signed up agreeing to explore further synergies between our organisations.
Policies updates
Please spend time in checking our
DSA policies and resources
. These include an updated DSA information pamphlet, “Hearing Aid and Cochlear Implant Headwear protection in Sports”, COVID-19 Risk Management Plan, Member Protection Policy, ChildSafe policy, Human Resources policy and our Strategic Plan 2020 - 2024.
Return to Sport Guidelines
Deaf Sports Australia has developed a Return to Sport guidelines in PDF format and provided an Auslan translation of the document.
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Services at Deaf Sports Australia
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There are three main initiatives currently available at Deaf Sports Australia:
- Active Deaf Kids
- Active Deaf Sports Clubs
- Active Deaf High Performance
What are they?
Active Deaf Kids
Active Deaf Kids is a program established since 2011. The program is designed to work with deaf and hard of hearing school children in all sports. The mission is to facilitate and support the participation of these children through all levels of sports. Key objectives of this program range from educating the mainstream sporting structure, keeping it 'deaf-friendly' to fostering and encouraging participation and skill development.
Deaf Sports Australia's major focus is at Sporting Schools, an Australian Government's initiative organised by Sport Australia. It is aimed to increase children's participation in sports for free. Sport Australia has a partnership of up to 30 National Sporting Organisations.
Active Deaf Sports Clubs
This program is designed to deliver Deaf Sports Awareness Training to NSO, SSO, clubs and individuals. The aim is to provide mainstream sports organisations the opportunity to integrate inclusion practises for their deaf and hard of hearing sports participants.
The ADSC Program gives coaches, sports administrators and parents the opportunity to learn best communication practices when working with deaf and hard of hearing people in sports settings.
Active Deaf High Performance
The Active Deaf High-Performance program includes pathways where deaf and hard of hearing individuals are identified, recruited and offered further training opportunities through other programs or events, because of potential talent. Deaf Sport Australia will assist these individuals to be given opportunities to further develop their skills in their sport of choice in order to become elite participants.
You can find more information about these three initiatives on DSA's
website
.
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- Cricket - Confirmed - Cricket (National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Melbourne, January 2021.
- Lawn Bowls and 8-Ball's National Championships are still going ahead in April (Easter) in 2021.
- Touch Football, Netball, Beach Volleyball and Futsal are still finalising location and dates.
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Julie Lyons, Sports Development Officer for DSRQ, is working from home. She will also attend events booked in.
DSRQ has a Participation Plan set out for 2020:
- Run Active Deaf Kids program
- Work with other SDOs in developing the Deaf Sports Awareness Training program
- Organise various sport days, particularly for National Week of Deaf People
- Implement talent identification (finding potential athletes)
- Develop new policies and procedures for sports clubs
- And host a DSRQ forum in October 2020.
The following events have been booked:
Diving Clinic “Come & Try” Days
(1, 10 & 22nd August and 3, 10 & 31st October - time TBC - see
flyer
)
Tennis Fun Day
(Sundays 16th August & 25th October - 2:00pm till 4:00pm)
Deaf Sports Day
(Friday 11th September - time TBC. Also tentative depending on COVID-19 situation)
Deaf Futsal Gala Day
(
Thursday 29
th
October from 9:00 am till 2:00 pm)
Deaf Sailing “Try it out” Day
(Once a month on a Saturday. Check their
Facebook
for dates)
For more information on these events and other QLD news, please click
here
.
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James Hale, Sports Development Officer for DSRV, is working from home and likely to continue this way until later this year, depending on Victorian government guideline changes.
DSRV in conjunction with VicSport will be running two (2) workshops with clubs and volunteers in order to gain a better understanding of:
- Club development requirements
- Training and support required for volunteers
- Support required from the DSRV office
DSRV will be holding a state club meeting next Thursday 30th July via Zoom of how everyone is and update of what’s happening
It had been successful in obtaining a ‘Community Sport Club’ funding of $1,000 for 1 deaf sport club, the Melbourne Deaf Cricket club, from the Victorian government, to support them in their endeavours.
Useful websites for additional information on other sporting information:
- This link is a great support for schools to apply for sports assist for student to try new and enjoy sports.
- Check here for more information about the upcoming Australian Deaf Games 2022 Newcastle / Lake Macquarie.
- Take a look at the Victorian Government website for COVID-19 updates on sporting restrictions in Victoria.
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Lauren Townsend, Sports Development Officer for NSWDS, is also working from home and will continue to do so until end of this year.
NSWDS have been doing the following:
- Work with other SDOs in developing the Deaf Sports Awareness Training program
- Participated in a podcast interview with RIDBC
- Involve in a film project for exercise ideas at home for those with disabilities
- Attend every Sports updates provided by the Office of Sports NSW
- Participated in meetings with Sport NSW and other stakeholders regarding current climate and other issues
- Contributed to a one-stop point for all classification information on the Office of Sports NSW's website
With DSA’s support, NSWDS has been successful in receiving funding to support clubs/affiliates based on impacts by COVID-19. NSWDS have also held an SDSC earlier this month, meeting and learning about the updates from each club/team/individual.
NSWDS is also offering services. These are as follows:
- NSW Active Kids (run an ADK sports program with a sport organisation; parents can apply for an Active Kids Voucher to reduce fees)
- Sporting School Program (run an ADK sports program in the school with a sport of their choice)
- Active Deaf Sports Club (provide Deaf Sports Awareness Training)
Useful information
Sporting updates in NSW can be found
here.
For all other deaf sports updates, go
here
.
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In relation to international events, DSA is starting to get information about Deaflympics 2021 and a
website
has been created.
There are still strong concerns about ability to participate in these Games as well as World Championship events in 2021 because of COVID-19 impacts in many countries. We know that our Australian government is very strict about international travel over the next 6 - 9 months. Getting government funding and sponsorship will be difficult. DSA Board is carefully monitoring this and is discussing with its NDSOs and Sport Australia to make confident and safe decisions about sending an Australian team to international events.
Here is a video of their live media launch - some sections with speeches include International Sign as well as Brazilian Sign Language.
All starting to happen.
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