During the past Spring and Autumn semesters of 2022, after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid lockdowns, we were finally able to celebrate our 20th and 21st offerings of the ‘Inclusive Play & Leisure Activities for Youth’ (i-PLAY) programme.
A special thank you to 4th Year PE students and Spring 2022 Group Leaders Beverly Lynch, Megan Jobe, Kate Delaney, Martha McNally, Grace Dooley, Rachel Cummins, Katie Merrick, and Laura Heffernan (pictured left-to-right), as well as 3rd Year PE students and Autumn 2022 Group Leaders Luke Allen, Rachel Cleary, Caelainn McGrath, Liam Tevnan, Tristan Fogarty, and Sydney Sheridan (pictured left-to-right) for all of their combined efforts across the year. Here’s to another 10 years!!!
First established in the Autumn of 2011, i-PLAY (or Imrím) is a weekly physical activity programme designed for children, youth, and young people (ages 5-21) with special needs held within the Physical Education & Sports Science (PESS) Dept. here at the University of Limerick. Led by faculty members Brigitte Moody and Daniel Tindall, 3rd and 4th year PE students participate in the i-PLAY experience as part of the PY4135 – Adapted Physical Activity & Physical Education and PY4118 – Physical Activity Behaviour, Promotion, & Health modules. Offered in both the Autumn and Spring semesters, the main goal of this weekly programme is to engage participants in various physical activities (dance, games, health-related activities, fundamental movement skills, etc.) throughout the term. As part of this service learning experience, each participant is paired with one of our pre-service Physical Education students receiving individual attention, support, and encouragement. The focus of the programme is on promoting physical activity for young people; incorporating it into their daily lives (i.e., in school, after school, and at home). Ultimately, the main goals of the programme are:
- To provide children and young people with special needs the opportunity to play and interact socially with peers,
- To provide pre-service Physical Education teachers with the opportunity to gain experience in planning and assisting youth with special needs as it relates to the physical activity setting, and
- To provide families an opportunity to connect with one another as a way to support each other and their children with special needs.
For more information on the i-PLAY programme, please visit us at the following website: http://www.ul.ie/pess/undergraduate/i-play. There you can listen to an interview conducted in 2011 on Limerick’s Live 95 that further explains the rationale for the programme.
Dr. Daniel Tindall is a Lecturer in Physical Education in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, UL and Co-Director of i-PLAY.
Contact: ResearchGate @PETE_ASSEMBLE Daniel.Tindall@ul.ie
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