The paralympic judoka Marta Arce Payno (Valladolid, 1977) This week he gives his sixth talk at a school in Ibiza. It will be on Thursday, February 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the library of the Can Guerxo school (Sant Jordi), within the framework of the Inclusive Sports program organized by the Consell de Eivissa and the Sanitas Foundation Chair for Studies on Inclusive Sports . The Sanitas Foundation and the Polytechnic University of Madrid also collaborate actively, with the support of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Sports of the Balearic Government.
The athlete, who participated in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games and was silver in Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), won three medals at the Paralympic Games, explains to Noudiari that she is very satisfied with the reception that these types of talks tend to have in the island’s classrooms: “The reaction is always very pleasant, and I think that the students already tend to be prepared and they know a little about what I am going to talk about and who I am, so they are usually quite excited, the truth is that I feel very welcome». Arce was born with albinism and has 10% vision, so she admits that she can be a reference for people with the same condition who also want to enjoy sports.
The objective of the initiative is, as the judoka explains, to transfer to the youngest “The importance of inclusive sport at school”: «It is like a base for the integration and inclusion in society of people with disabilities», adds Arce, who highlights that Physical Education is a space that can be used precisely «to make things more accessible for everyone the world” and to interact with people with disabilities and, ultimately, normalize their participation in sport and in any area of life.
On the other hand, the Sanitas Foundation Chair organizes sports exercises that students can do after each talk that takes place within the framework of this Inclusive Sports program. Therefore, the boys and girls of Can Guerxo will have the opportunity to practice adapted/inclusive judo with Marta Arcein addition to other sports depending on the number of students, the space and the material that there is in the educational center to practice them.
Marta Arce points out during her conversation with this digital medium that these talks are important mainly for those students who do not have a disability, because precisely those who do have it, she assures, they are fully aware that they are equally valid to practice any sportespecially thanks to the information that currently exists in this regard: «They do not usually doubt their abilities, it may be other people who generate barriers».
“I grew up thinking I was incapable”
Before, due to the aforementioned lack of information on disability, there was a greater problem in this regard. Arce, without going any further, did not discover his passion for sports until college: “It changed my lifethe reality of that time was different, the amount of information and access to experiences like these that are offered to the students of Ibiza did not exist, so I grew up thinking that I was an incapable and useless person, and sport taught me to see reality differently and learning to adapt and develop different ways of doing things, which is really what having a disability is all about.’
The Valladolid judoka was in charge of opening this program in Ibiza, which began in October. This Thursday will be her sixth talk at a school on the island.
