More needs doing: Assessing the state of inclusivity and accessibility of sport at Warwick

Whether they play competitively in BUCS teams, attend training sessions ran by on-campus clubs, or go to sports society socials – sport is a large part of university life for many students.

That being said, questions have been raised about how inclusive and accessible university sport really is – is it truly something that is easy for all to participate in? Or does it simply tailor to the majority, leaving the minority on the outskirts once more?

Problems within university sport were recognised by BUCS in 2015 when they launched their ‘Take A Stand’ campaign. In 2018, the Inclusion Board built on this campaign by outlining a Diversity Action Plan, a section of which focused on disability sport.

Disabled undergraduate students in the UK face challenges that make it difficult for them to become involved in sport

A study by the University of Lincoln

Nearly a decade on from the launch of this original campaign, issues in university sport are ever-present. In 2023, a research article, conducted by individuals from the University of Lincoln, concluded that disabled undergraduate students in the UK face challenges that make it difficult for them to become involved in sport and that they should receive additional support for social and sporting activities.

On the University of Warwick’s Student Union (SU) website, a page titled ‘Reshaping Sport’ focuses on how the University has aimed to make sport as inclusive as possible.

One of the outlined changes was that there has been lobbying for accessible facilities at the Sports & Wellness Hub.

The Boar Sport spoke to Karé Adenegan, a Paralympian who graduated from the University of Warwick with a BA in History in 2022. Adenegan emphasised how accessible the on-campus Sports & Wellness Hub is, saying: “I was quite fortunate that when I started Warwick, that was when the sports hub opened. So, where it is a more modern facility, it was quite easy to get around.”

This SU website page also outlines other ways that the University aims to improve accessibility to sport, including running accessible sport workshops for clubs, and creating disability-friendly activities.

When discussing these with Adenegan, she praised the University’s commitment to accessibility, emphasising how “supportive” staff were whilst she was reading her degree.

Whatever aspect of accessibility was being discussed with Adenegan, our conversation kept circling back to raising awareness for the options that are available to students.

It’s not only important, however, that individuals are aware of what is available to them, but also that their peers are inclusive and educated

While Adenegan found getting involved in primary school sport difficult, she began playing wheelchair basketball at around nine years old and had already competed internationally in wheelchair racing prior to university. The issue comes when students with disabilities do not know what is available to them and have not been involved in sport before university.

Adenegan wants to make sure that students are aware of the disability sports that they can try. She trained with Coventry Harriers, a wheelchair racing club that uses the University of Warwick track. Coventry Harriers has had Warwick students attend its sessions, which are held on campus, they are “open pretty much to anyone” and are accessible.

In a conversation with The Boar Sport, Adam Lione, a partially sighted footballer who plays for England, offered advice to those struggling to find what disability sports are available to them. His message was to utilise “Google and social media”; while it’s “not as easy as” simply giving it a go, these platforms mean that local options can be discovered, and that their organisers can be contacted.

It’s not only important, however, that individuals are aware of what is available to them, but also that their peers are inclusive and educated.

“As an autistic person it can honestly be quite scary feeling like I’d have to get thrown into a sport mid-season without knowing where to go, how to get involved or even where to start”

Prince Vutabwarova-Finbars, Autism at Warwick

Safia Middleton-Patel is a Manchester United goalkeeper who has recently been diagnosed with ASD. Speaking on her autism diagnosis, she emphasised how her teammates are aware of the struggles she faces and therefore can ensure that she gets the most out of training sessions and meetings.

To gain more knowledge on the experiences that university students with autism have with sport, The Boar Sport contacted Autism at Warwick, a society that provides a space for autistic students.

Prince Vutabwarova-Finbars, the society’s social secretary and ethnic minorities representative, gave insight to another aspect of accessibility to university sport.

They said that they were unable to join sports at the beginning of term due to financial costs and by the end of the term, when they had the funds to participate in sport, they felt that “it was too late”.

Adding to this, they said that: “As an autistic person it can honestly be quite scary feeling like I’d have to get thrown into a sport mid-season without knowing where to go, how to get involved or even where to start.”

This highlighted how issues with sport’s financial accessibility are intrinsically linked to problems that students with autism face.

One way that Warwick Sport aims to reduce the financial burden of university sport is through ‘Rock Up & Play’ sessions. Georgina Pilling, Sports Engagement Officer at Warwick Sport, said that there are “over 50 hours of free sport per week”.

Lione emphasised how universities must speak to those with disabilities or impairments to discover what their individual needs are

To make these free sessions inclusive, the Active Wellbeing Team at Warwick Sport are working with Autism at Warwick to develop ‘Rock Up & Play’. One result of this collaboration has been the addition of sensory-friendly table tennis sessions to the timetable.

It’s not only Autism at Warwick who have suggestions for Warwick Sport; a member of Enable Warwick, a society that supports Warwick students with disabilities, told The Boar Sport that there needs to be notice given when sessions are cancelled. They said: “Disabled people often have to plan their entire week around when they will be participating in sports,” meaning that “last minute cancellations can result in a disabled person not being able to participate in sport for a more extended period of time than an able-bodied person.”

When speaking to The Boar Sport, Lione emphasised how universities must speak to those with disabilities or impairments to discover what their individual needs are. He also suggested the implementation of a member of staff who focuses on disability sport as there needs to be someone who is “proactively trying to find solutions”, rather than “just talking about it in passing”.

Lione graduated from the University of Worcester in 2015 where he had been offered a scholarship as a visually impaired footballer, although ironically “there wasn’t really a visually impaired football set up” at the university.

Visually impaired football is an adaptation of futsal and therefore Lione started a futsal team for the university to making university sport inclusive for himself.

Like Adenegan, Lione began playing competitive sport long before university. He played disability football as a child and then stopped before starting again at around 14 years old – it was the coach he played for as a teenager that sent him for a trial with England.

Team Warwick told The Boar Sport that they organised an inclusive sports day last year, but a shortage of take-up caused it to be cancelled

Recently, England football have increased their focus on ParaFootball; the Para squad’s January warm weather training camp was posted about on social media and the teams’ members were featured in the announcement photos for the new England kit.

Lione described how “amazing” it is to be “covered like any other England team” would be. He said that he wished he’d been able to see those posts on Instagram when he was 14 or 15 and “hopes it reaches out to” those with impairments so that inclusion keeps building and teams get stronger.

The lack of publicity given to disability sport when Lione was a teenager caused him to not want to “associate” with it for some time. Now he believes that the issue is that people see disability sport as “one of two extremes”.

Lione hopes that growth in participation in disability sport will lead to the discovery of a middle ground: a competitive environment that is not an elite setting, yet is more than simple participation for people who feel like there’s nowhere else for them to go. Ideally, this middle ground would be found in universities.

Nonetheless, a lack of participation currently prevents this. Team Warwick told The Boar Sport that they organised an inclusive sports day last year, but a shortage of take-up caused it to be cancelled. They are now looking to run tasters for different inclusive sports in the coming months.

The Boar Sport contacted Warwick Sport about their disability sport provision however no comment was received.

It is evident that an increased awareness of which disability sports are available is arguably just as necessary as an increase in sport support for students with disabilities. A combination of these two implementations would ensure that sport truly is accessible for all.