Earlier this month, the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, in partnership with the Saint Lucia National Table Tennis Association, hosted a powerful showcase that underscored ability, inclusion, and sportsmanship for special education students.
Inspired by the calypso lyric “We are people too,” sung by Vieux Fort Special Ed student Dillan Joseph, the event made it clear that sports belong to everyone, including Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).
Participating schools included Dunnottar, Dennery Children Centre, Vieux Fort Special Ed, Soufriere Special Ed, Lady Gordon, and Edu Care.
Held at the Beausejour Indoor Facility, the event buzzed with energy as it featured open singles matches and physical literacy challenges from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Tournament Highlights:
Boys Champion: Kimani Tal (Vieux Fort) decisively defeated Dillan Joseph.
Girls Champion: Ranelle Charlemagne (Vieux Fort) triumphed over Rubecca Daniel.
Third-place finishers included Malik Asson, Adam Bourne, Bria Polius, and Solange LeBlanc.
Eighty-five students from the six schools actively participated in six Physical Literacy activities designed to develop their ABCs (agility, balance, coordination) for the sport of Table Tennis.
The activities included six stages: Transfer Balls, Forehand Bounce, Backhand Bounce, Alternating Forehand and Backhand Bounce, Agility Ladder & Forehand/Backhand roll to score, and Jump Rope.
The roller ball Male and Female wheelchair champions were Tye Plummer and Zeckella Louis, both from Dunnottar School.
The podium finishers for the speed of reaction activity were as follows:
Boys: 1st Lady Gordon, 2nd Dennery Child Development Centre, 3rd Soufriere Special Ed.
Girls: 1st Soufriere Special Ed, 2nd Dennery Child Development Centre, 3rd Dunnottar.
The event concluded with a balancing ball mixed team relay, where Soufriere Special Ed took 1st place, Dunnottar secured 2nd, and Vieux Fort Special Ed came in 3rd.