Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Following international women’s day this weekend, our time for reflection leader is Kayleigh Brown, née Haggo. Kayleigh represented Great Britain at last year’s summer Paralympic games and has done so much more.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to address you this afternoon, following international women’s day on Saturday.
Today, I want to share with you my journey in sport. I am 26 years old and I have had cerebral palsy from birth. Just before my fourth birthday, I asked my mum if I could go to ballet lessons with my cousin. I really wanted to twirl about in a tutu. My mum said that I could go as soon as I had learned how to stand and walk unaided. She absolutely knew what she was doing. She gave me a fierce determination and, with the right motivation, I practised every day.
Three months later, I could walk unaided and I started ballet lessons. I loved them. I fell over—a lot—but I did not care. I was just so happy to be there.
My experiences of ballet were always very positive, but physical education lessons at school were not as inclusive. When it came to team sports, I would be given a stopwatch, whistle or notebook and asked to keep score.
It was not until I started attending events organised by Scottish Disability Sport and Ayrshire Sportsability that I discovered my love for para sports. Everyone at the events who was involved had a disability and played so many different sports.
By the age of 12, I had competed at my first international frame-running event, and I was soon winning medals and setting world records. However, even though I was competing all over the world, I was still not very involved in physical education at school. I do not blame my PE teachers at all; they just did not have the training or education to find ways to adapt and include me. That is why I became a tutor with Scottish Disability Sport. Now, I train teachers, coaches and volunteers to be more inclusive.
I am here today to say that there are lots of ways in which people with a disability can do things and play sport. If I ever wanted to do something, I would always find a way. Last year, my dream of becoming a Paralympian came true when I was selected to compete in boccia at the Paris Paralympic games.
As you go about your work to make a better Scotland, remember that all children deserve to enjoy school PE and sport. We need more people to understand the full potential of what we can do—not what we cannot do.
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