Coach -Interview-

We spoke with Coach Kikuchi, who is a wheelchair tennis instructor.
In fact, one of our members, R.K., is one of the people who has been teaching us and taking care of us on a regular basis!

Coach Kikuchi Coaching experience: 15,6 years Originally, I coached at TTC, but now I train some beginners in wheelchair tennis and send them to big gim like TTC!

What is Para-sport?

First of all, it is important to know how you want to live.
You should never live your life regretting or worrying about what you can't move or see. If you can't, think about what you can do or what you can make use of now.

So, Do the best you can with what you've got!

Problem

Awareness of surroundings

Awareness of disabilities and para-sports is still low. Recently, the media has been paying more attention to people with disabilities and the Paralympics, but this is only a small part of the story.
First of all, we need to let people know about it.br>

Training of Instructors

We need to develop people who can teach. Of course, we need to develop players, but in order to do that, we need to have leaders who can develop players.
In addition to the technical aspects of the sport, para-sports coaching requires training and support tailored to the disability of each athlete, and knowledge of the disability is essential. Because of the multifaceted knowledge required, there is a shortage of para-sports instructors. Para-sports is a sport that cannot be played without people who can support and teach it, so it is difficult to start alone.

Therefore,
In order for para-sports to flourish, it's very important that we train our leaders!

What I want to say

Just having a person with a disability around me has changed the way I look at things, and I want that view to spread.
I hope they will spread that view. I hope that we can become friends who can joke with each other.
I hope you will be able to joke with each other, because that means you have built a relationship of trust.

I also want people to know that there are people with disabilities who cannot leave their homes. It would be great if we could create opportunities for people with disabilities to go out as much as possible, and create a world where able-bodied people and people with disabilities can spend time together.

I want a society where everyone can coexist!

Summary

I was deeply impressed by the fact that there are still so few people who can coach, the need for support, the lack of understanding of disabilities and para-sports, and many other issues that still need to be addressed in para-sports. I would like to thank Coach Kikuchi for his cooperation in this interview. It was very interesting.