Guiding the disabled to enjoy a sporting life | Ordinary People
Clariel Goh, a 17-year-old volunteer with the Singapore Disability Sports Council, shares her experiences helping individuals with disabilities enjoy a sports through goalball.
She highlights the importance of empathy, inclusivity, and the joy of building connections with the players, emphasising the rewarding nature of volunteerism.
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
She highlights the importance of empathy, inclusivity, and the joy of building connections with the players, emphasising the rewarding nature of volunteerism.
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Nice to see you get some goals ah.
00:02Good luck.
00:12Hello, I'm Clariel Goh.
00:14I'm 17 this year and I'm a regular volunteer
00:17under Singapore Disability Sports Council, SDSC.
00:22Singapore Disability Sports Council aims to help people
00:26with disability to enjoy a sporting life.
00:31As a volunteer, I will help the coach
00:34as well as the other volunteers to set up the court
00:38so that the people with disabilities can play.
00:43I will also help with the warm-ups.
00:47So right now, they are doing their warm-up
00:49and it will help with their stamina during the game.
00:52Some of the volunteers as well as the players are doing squats.
01:02The little girl over there is called Alyssa
01:05as she's unable to see.
01:07And so it requires someone to hold her hand.
01:11Usually the volunteers, we will tell them
01:14when they are reaching the goal post.
01:16And I tell them they are reaching soon
01:18so that they know and can estimate
01:20how fast they should go while running.
01:27Some volunteers will hold the players' shoulders
01:30to let them know whether they are reaching
01:32the end of the goal post soon.
01:36A volunteer actually helps the people
01:39that may not be able to see as well
01:42to guide them in where they are going.
01:44Sometimes there may be accidents without a volunteer.
01:47Okay, I'll stretch it then you put it in.
01:50Aiyo.
01:53Is it okay?
01:55Other games like soccer, basketball
01:58they are usually quite loud at times
02:00and it can be quite overwhelming.
02:05Okay.
02:06Since you want to be the same team as you, right?
02:08Global is a very quiet game
02:10that actually requires the players, the volunteers
02:14to be silent during the game
02:16and only then the players can interact
02:18and communicate with each other
02:19to see what they want to carry out in their gameplay.
02:25So the goal of the game is to get the ball
02:28into the other opponent's goal post.
02:31The ball has a bell inside
02:33which enables the players that are playing
02:37to hear where the ball is
02:40so that they are able to defend as well as attack.
02:47Pop!
02:51This is how the ball sounds like.
02:57And you have to actually use your hearing
02:59to navigate where the ball is
03:01which can be quite difficult for some people.
03:05I feel like personally
03:07I cannot find the ball whenever I play the game.
03:11Yeah.
03:12People without visual impairments
03:14can actually take part in goalball.
03:16They can wear blindfolds while playing the game
03:19so that they can actually put themselves
03:21into the visually impaired people's shoes
03:24and experience how difficult the game
03:27can actually be without seeing.
03:39I feel that goalball
03:41it allows people without any visual impairments
03:45or any disability in general
03:48to understand and empathise with those
03:51that actually have disabilities.
04:03I was able to work with Alyssa
04:05and she's honestly a very nice person
04:07and I love working with her.
04:09She honestly is a very bright person
04:11and she will always laugh about small things
04:14which makes me happy
04:15because sometimes it can be quite overwhelming
04:18as there's a lot of things to do
04:19and she will just brighten up your day.
04:21Alyssa is quite a cheerful girl, I would say
04:24because seeing her work with Clairol
04:27is quite joyful
04:29because Clairol also like to work with children
04:33so it's quite like a match made in heaven.
04:37It's really nice to see her
04:38working with other people
04:40and not just working with herself.
04:41I feel like if there was a chance
04:43I would definitely look for Alyssa
04:45because she is a really nice person
04:47and she's very empathetic.
04:49a match made in heaven.
05:06I feel very tired after the session.
05:08I feel very hyped about the session.
05:12Because after the session, we are able to
05:15be inclusive and to work with other people as well.
05:19I think that through this session,
05:21I was able to understand more about the players.
05:25And I would consider Alyssa as one of my buddies now.
05:29As I feel that through volunteering in GoBall,
05:33we have grown a closer relationship.
05:35And she starts opening up to me.
05:37Because at the start, she was a bit more shy and closed off.
05:41And I had to try to talk to her more
05:44so that she would interact with me
05:45and also just tell me more about herself.
05:48So I actually got to know more about her
05:50and her personal life actually.