Kiran Dixon: "It changed my perspective on sport." Photo / Photosport
Kiran Dixon: "It changed my perspective on sport." Photo / Photosport
The Halberg Games will celebrate their 10-year anniversary this weekend and have grown in that time from fewer than 100 competitors to nearly 250.
The three-day event starts tomorrow and runs until Saturday at King’s College in Auckland, and is exclusively open to young athletes aged 8-21 with a physical disability or visual impairment.
The games have produced para-athletes who have gone on to represent New Zealand, including wheelchair racer Jaden Movold and Kirstie Fairhurst in snow sports.
Kiran Dixon has been involved with the games since their inception, initially as an athlete for four years before moving to the youth council and now working as a fulltime employee, where he works behind the scenes, along with MCing some events.
Dixon has metatropic dysplasia, a rare skeletal disorder characterised by short stature with other skeletal abnormalities, particularly affecting the limbs and spine.
Having a bad experience with sports at high school, Dixon says taking part in the Halberg Games provided lots of encouragement – he competed in a variety of sports including swimming, archery, shot put, discus and wheelchair basketball.
“It changed my perspective on sport and being active, and showed that I can actually do stuff,” said Dixon.
“I went to the first Halberg Games to experience it and it was a cool moment for me. It encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone and experience sport in a very different way than what I’d seen before.
“Not knowing how they were going to modify sports for me, how things were going to work out, the more I did it, the more excited I got and the more I enjoyed it.”
Dixon has always loved sports – he has a strong interest in basketball, following the New Zealand Breakers and the NBA, while he also plays badminton and swims recreationally.
But he says being involved with the Halberg Games has had a massive impact on his life and being able to compete alongside others has given him a new lease on life.
“As a disabled person, being able to participate in that kind of environment alongside your friends and your peers it creates a new level of freedom and takes you out of your comfort zone,” said Dixon.
“There’s something really special about being able to compete alongside your peers, people with similar disabilities, different disabilities, and just have fun and enjoy sport together.
“Especially in New Zealand where we’re a very kind of sport-heavy culture, we’ve got so many incredible athletes and, and sports teams.”
Dixon encourages any parents who have kids with disabilities to try to get them involved in sports.
He highlights the benefits of sport, especially from a mental health perspective.
“I know it can be a little bit scary sometimes to take an extra step to try something new, but if you come along, we’ll make the effort, and you can try something new and you definitely can do it.
“You’re so much more capable than you think you are, and I just don’t be afraid to take the risk.
“If you’re constantly sitting in this idea that you can’t do it or that you’re not able to do it or that people don’t want you to do it, it can bring you down like quite significantly.
Kiran Dixon lights the opening ceremony flame at the 2015 Halberg Games. Photo / Photosport
“Believing in yourself is so important and taking that step to go beyond your comfort zone a little bit is so, so important for your mental health.
“I never thought that I could do archery and like there’s a level of, I guess, euphoria and excitement that comes from achieving something that you never thought was possible.”
While some sports can be challenging for people with disabilities, Dixon believes small changes can encourage even more to take part in sport.
“It’s mostly a lack of understanding on behalf of coaches and providers on how easy it is to modify things,” said Dixon.
“A lot of the time people can think it’s really scary to take a step and kind of change stuff, but a lot of the time it’s really simple modifications that are needed, like lowering a net or changing the tension on a bow.
“Little modifications like that actually make a huge difference to the inclusion of disabled people.
“I think it’s a mindset thing where people just need to take like the extra step and just be a little bit brave in how they approach including disabled people.
“It’s actually a lot easier than most people think it is.”
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.
