You will face many intellectual and physical barriers that your students have to overcome. These could be from disabilities or lack of sporting acumen. Either way, you will have to focus on making your activities accessible to all.
It is far easier to overcome a lack of sporting acumen when training with students. As mentioned in previous posts, increasing competence can be easily achieved using a few steps. You may find more difficulties when dealing with students with disabilities; however, these disabilities may not lessen their love for sport, and will not lessen their need to be involved.
You must remember that your challenged students are the same as everyone else, they just need a bit more attention and your activities for them may need to be adjusted. Having said that, allow them to progress at a natural rate. If they want to go longer, faster or bigger then let them, as long as they are not in danger of injury.
You may also teach some students who are intellectually challenged, and although physically they can compete with other able-bodied pupils, they may not want to or they may not know how. To overcome this, you have to carefully explain what it is that is required of them. They may not understand at first, but the fact that you are taking time out to speak to them directly will help them decide that sport is something that they want to do.
Confidence is a problem that many disabled people have when it comes to partaking in sport. It is therefore your responsibility as their sporting leader to encourage and to build their confidence.
You may also have some students who are far stronger than others, or much more competent than your other pupils. You will have to manage this carefully because you want to keep everyone happy and partaking in sport.
You want to make sure that those who are not as strong, or perhaps as good, are kept challenged in their own right. This could be by splitting your group into two smaller groups, the better sportspeople and the not as good, however you run the risk of alienating certain people.
You also want to make sure that those who are better than the rest are not getting bored by being pitted against people who they would easily beat. What you could do, should the facility be there, is to allow those higher achievers to join a higher age group, or a more advanced team.
