2023 PE Report

The 2023 school year had a wide range of success in the Physical Education (PE) programs at the SA School and Services for Vision Impaired (SASSVI). 

Students supported by the SASSVI service have had a stella year in blind and low vision sport in South Australia and across the state, at National and international competitions.  With one of the most intense years in blind and low vision sport we have seen for a while, we have had a lot of celebrate in 2023. The International Blind Sporting Association (IBSA) World Games were held in Birmingham, England, and SASSVI's past and present students were well represented. SASSVI had 6 current or previous students selected for the mens and women's blind cricket teams, with Lachlan Wallace, an ex student and current staff member travelling as both a member of the men's team and one of the coaching staff for the women's team. SASSVI also had 2 current and previous athletes involved in goalball and 1 involved in blind tennis at the same IBSA World Games.

2023 also saw Australia send athletes to the IBSA Goalball World Champuionships and IBSA Goalball Asian Regional Championships. Again SASSVI had 3 athletes involved in these prestigious events, showing the strength of the sport and the growth of the game in South Australia. While the teams were unable to qualify for the Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024, the youth and strength of these young players shows huge potential in the sport moving towards Los Angeles Paralympic Games in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.

With the growth of blind tennis across Australia, there is no surprise that South Australia has continued to show strongly on this stage.We have seen the largest number of youth and junior players entering tournaments, with current or past SASSVI students contributing 10 players to the national tour.

Blind Football also has continued to grow in Australia in 2023, with 3 current or previous SASSVI students being selected for the men's team, 4 for the women's team and 3 for the partially sighted team, with international opportunities to follow in 2024, an exciting year for the sport!  Having such an incredible showing from the SASSVI students on the world and national stage is phenominal, and we could not be prouder of the students we support! 

This alone would have made this year one of the most successful we have had as part of the PE program, however, the blind sports camp has continued to grow, with 26 students attending the camp from as far as Port Augusta to Cobdogla and Swan Reach and Mount Gambier, making this the largest of its kind yet. The students were able to experience blind cricket, blind football, blind tennis, blind lawn bowls and goalball across 3 days, receiving expert coaching from national coaches in all sports. However, the most important part of this camp was the personal and social growth we saw from the students. Incredible friendships have been formed and students have continued to grow these outside of the camp.