29 Apr 2025

Inclusivity in sport is meant to ensure inclusion of visually impaired and everyone, as well as giving athletes a fair and empowering platform to compete. 

As such it was prudent to host classification workshop for optometrists from different countries in the region. The African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 operations manager, Lisungu Banda said in an interview on the sidelines of a workshop for visually impaired athletes in Gaborone recently, adding that  it was their  mandate to ensure inclusiveness in sport development. 

The training was facilitated by Ugandan Classification Specialist, Joseph Sebwana. Banda said at the end of the training, the participants would be able to classify different athletes for different categories in different countries to participate in the Region 5 Games. 

The training was designed to equip medical and sport professionals with the tools to classify visually impaired athletes ahead of the Final Entry by Name (FEN) deadline of April 30. Banda said they wanted optometrists to classify athletes on different levels of their visuals so that they compete in the appropriate events. 

Some of the challenges they faced in the region, she said, was the fact that there were few optometrists in different countries. She said currently there were lots of athletes in the region who had the desire to participate in sport but could not afford to get consultation or meet with optometrists. 

“And that is where we come in as a region to work with our ministries, and also to train already existing optometrists so that when they go back to their countries they can strategically place themselves in areas where they can support the athletes,” she said. 

Namibian optometrist Shaarla-Devi Persadh said she attended the training to enable her to be in a position to make a positive contribution in ensuring that athletes were accurately classified. She said that would also give athletes an opportunity to fairly compete at international level against their peers.  ENDS