Meet Kathryn and Joseph Salt! Joseph is one of our esteemed Voices of Children and Young People Advisory Group members, as well as being a passionate participant and a very friendly face in the sporting community. Kathryn is Joseph’s loving mother, supporter, carer, and part of his cheer squad (to name a few!).

On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we wanted to remind people what sport can do for people with disabilities as well as their support network, and how our shared passion for sport unites us. Some highlights from our chat with Joseph and Kathryn are below!

Joseph’s favourite part about sport was that it kept him fit and healthy, also adding, “the best thing is the friends I have made playing sport.” When asked who his favourite sport star was and why, Joseph noted, “My brother Jonathan Salt. He is in the Australian Floorball Team (Number 9). I am so proud.”

Acknowledging what a clear superstar is, we felt it was equally as important to share Kathryn’s experience as a parent and supporter.

“Being a parent of a child that loves sport is life-changing”, she noted. “..training dictates your weekly schedule and sport rules your weekend.”

Kathryn has three sons, all of whom are involved in different sports. She is a self-proclaimed ‘yes’ Mum and shared that any time her boys wanted to try a new sport they were given the opportunity.

Kathryn noted that she’d like to see specialist disability training for coaches available to assist them in better understanding how to cater to the needs of a variety of disabilities. In a particularly powerful statement, Kathryn said “(remunerating) coaches with equal payment rather than expecting the coaches of the integrated team to be volunteers – if you coach the integrated team you are working as hard (if not harder) than the coach of the first team.”

It is a privilege to share the stories of people like Kathryn and Joseph Salt, and in the spirit of this day, we encourage the WA sporting community to consider what they might do to make their sporting environments space more inclusive for people like Joseph and Kathryn.

We’ll leave you with a piece of advice from Joseph for anyone who wants to do what he does: “Always go to training, try hard and be friendly.”

For more info on the day, head here: https://www.idpwd.com.au/