Australia's Paralympic team has inspired the nation but the number of our next generation of athletes could be a lot smaller. Children with disabilities are facing barriers to both access and staying in sport. Their parents and other Paralympians are calling for more support at the grassroots level.
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00:00Wheelchair basketball is all 12-year-old Talo can talk about.
00:12I think just a part of the competitiveness and like being in, like competing for something.
00:20It's really fun.
00:21But around 50% of children with disabilities will drop out of school sport before the age of 11.
00:28There we go.
00:29I think very sad that that's the statistic.
00:32The question I would like to ask is, you know, how many kids don't have access to sport?
00:37We as a community are so focused on sport and that means including everyone.
00:43With one in five people living with disability in Australia,
00:47an estimated 24% of them participate in sport at least once a week,
00:53compared to 41% of non-disabled Australians.
00:57Around 13% of school-aged children live with disability
01:02and face several barriers to participating in sport, including travel, time and money.
01:08It's not just club fees parents have to pay for.
01:11Wheelchair basketball and track chairs can cost anywhere between $5,000 to $15,000.
01:19Beautiful serve there.
01:20Feelings of anxiety around participation is also an issue,
01:25with many children not feeling welcome in sport.
01:29For me as a child I wasn't quite aware of how different I was because of my disability.
01:33It wasn't until I started high school that I became quite self-conscious
01:37and aware of how my disability presents.
01:39When I go off like this...
01:42Increased funding, more training for coaches and elevating role models could change the landscape.
01:48A good organisation to be able to look at Paralympic sports,
01:51to try and find a way, especially able-bodied organisations,
01:55trying to find a way to actually include kids and also adults with disabilities to play sport is important.
02:02I love my sport, I love the opportunities it's given me,
02:04the people I've met, the places I've travelled to
02:07and it's just something so simple as having the opportunities there.
02:11And for many parents, the benefits of sport are important,
02:15including confidence, self-belief, friendship and teamwork.
02:21For Tello it's been so great for him to be around other kids with disabilities,
02:25not feeling like he's different from anyone else
02:28and just normalising the fact that there's kids with disabilities
02:33and they can play sports too and it's great.
02:36When more people join the sport, it makes the sport brighter and drive more.
02:42Sport for everyone.
02:45Elizabeth Wright, ABC News.