For people with any type of disability
Find out the sports structure and educational structure in your country! Check their websites and find all the information about sportclubs, activities, list of schools and much more!
Sports
Sports Structure
For physical disabilities there are several organizations, of which the biggest is the Finnish Association of Sports for the Disabled (FASD). FASD is a national sports and physical education organization for amputees, people with cerebral palsy or spinal cord injuries and for anyone with a locomotor disability or a disease affecting their ability to move. The official FASD sports include alpine and downhill skiing, sit skiing, ice sledge, shooting, archery, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair rugby, golf, table tennis, boccia, track and field, swimming, powerlifting (bench press), sailing and wheelchair dance. The FASD organizes national championship games in the official sports and sends participants to major international sports events such as the Paralympics. In the competitions of FASD there are participants largely from other physical disability organizations. Unofficial sports of SIU are billiards, electric wheelchair hockey, orienteering and dive.
Others:
Sports Association of Persons with Transplantation or Kidney Disease
Finnish MS-Association
Finnish Rheumatism Association
Finnish CP Association
The Finnish Athletic Association of the Deaf
Finnish Pulmonary Association
The Finnish Parkinson Association
Finnish Heart Association
Finnish Epilepsy Association
Adapted Sports of Finland. This is a joint organization of 16 nationalpublic health organizations, which organize also sports activities for their members.
Sports of the visually impaired is organized under Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired (FFVI). FASD, FFVI and FSAID organise Finnish Championship competitions together in swimming and cross-country skiing.
For mental disabilities there are two organizations: The Finnish Sport Association on Intellectual Disability, FSAID for the mentally retarded and The Sports Association for people with psychiatric disorders.
Alltogether there are 15 sport organizations that receive state funding. All the organisations organise competitive sport mostly for their own members.
International Paralympic Sports are organised by the Finnish Paralympic Committee. The Finnish Paralympic Committee is the olympic committee for disability sports in Finland, representing the Finnish top athletes with disabilities. It is responsible for electing and sending the Finnish team to participate in the Paralympic Games. It also spreads information about disability sports, and promotes research and training in this field.
The National Sports Council has three subcommittees for sports policy, adapted physical activity, and sport science ...” The National Sports Council is appointed by the Government for the parliamentary term (4 years).
Integration
Some sports, e.g. riding, sailing and partly wheelchair basketball, have integrated their activities with ordinary sports organizations. Mainly sports for the disabled are practised in organizations for the disabled.
Concerning competitive sports, there is a representative of National Olympic Committee in the Board of National Paralympic Committee and viceversa. There is some co-operation in coaching of top-athletes. Some national competitions are held together, e.g. annual east-west game in basketball and wheelchair basketball.
Other interesting links
In the new Sports Act there are several statements concerning adapted physical activities. Especially local sports administration is responsible for taking care of adapted physical activities.
Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired FFVI
The Cerebral Palsy Association of Finland
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