Parasports

Parasports

Parasport At Lakehead

Lakehead University is excited to be offering Parasport activities for the 2022-2023 school year. Lakehead University was selected as a site for the Adaptive Sports and Recreation in Post-Secondary Institution project. These projects, which are taking place at select University’s across Ontario, are possible due to a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), the Toronto Accessible Sports Council (TASC), along with many partners at the Ontario Parasport Collective (OPC). 

Staff, students, and community partners here at Lakehead University are excited to work alongside these partners to help introduce more parasport opportunities to the Lakehead University and Thunder Bay communities. 

About Sitting Volleyball

About Sitting Volleyball (Taken from https://volleyball.ca/en/sitting-volleyball-teams)

Sitting Volleyball is perhaps the most widely known form of ParaVolley thanks to its inclusion in the Paralympic Games since Arnhem in 1980. Played by over 10,000 athletes, in more than 55 countries worldwide it is a truly global game that anyone can play. 

The Sitting Volleyball rules are based on the FIVB rules for able-bodied volleyball, with a few minor modifications. It requires a smaller court (10m x 6m) and a lower net (1.15m for men, 1.05m for women), and the game is considerably faster than standing volleyball. It’s played in a best-of-five set format, and the first to reach 25 points (with at least a 2-point lead) wins the set.

Teams compete in male and female events, with six on the court at a time. At all times, a portion of the athlete’s torso must be in contact with the ground, and service blocks and attacks are allowed.

Who Can Play?

At the non-international level, sitting volleyball can be played by anyone.  Through the lens of Unified Sport, one of the great features of sitting volleyball is the fact that it provides the opportunity to easily integrate able-bodied athletes and athletes with a physical impairment on a level playing field.  Without the need for specialized equipment such as wheelchairs or sleds, it is very easy for anyone to sit down and play! 

Lakehead’s Instructional Sitting Volleyball Program – Winter 2023

Lakehead is excited to be working alongside National Team Member, Bryce Foster, to facilitate a development program for sitting volleyball. Each week will feature a mixture of instruction and scrimmaging to develop the participating athlete’s sitting volleyball skills. 

Dates/Times/Locations

This program will run on Tuesdays, Jan 24 – Mar 14 (excluding Feb 21), from 6 pm to 7 pm each week. All program sessions will take place in the Wolf Den Gym located on the Lakehead University Campus at 955 Sanders Drive. 

Cost

Thanks to our grant, this program is offered at no cost for the 2022-2023 year. 

How to Register

Registration can be done through the “Intramural Sports” link on our online portal (linked below), or in person at the Lakehead Athletics Facilities located at 955 Sanders Drive. 

Online Registration

FAQ

Do I have to be a Lakehead Student to participate? 

No, this program is open to community members as well. The only requirement for participation is that athletes must be 17&up. 

I’m interested in participation, but have no experience with sitting or standing volleyball. Can I still sign up? 

Yes! No prior experience is required. 

Am I able to participate as an able-bodied athlete?

Yes! This program is open to all.

Contact Information

For further information, please contact the Program Coordinators:

• Taryn Klarner – Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology – taryn.klarner@lakeheadu.ca
• Laura Ferguson – Manager, Recreation & Operations, Department of Athletics – coord.athletics@lakeheadu.ca 

Registration Instructions

1. Navigate to our registration portal at: https://luathletics.lakeheadu.ca/
2. Log in to your account by clicking “Sign In” at the top right of our registration portal. Be sure to use the main username/email box to sign in,  unless you are a lakehead faculty, student, or staff. If you are a current lakehead faculty, student, or staff with a MyInfo login, please select “click here for Lakehead User login” and use those credentials.
   1. For first time users, hit “sign up” at the bottom of the pop up box. If you are a creating an account to register a child/family member, please be sure to still create your account using your own name/information. You will be able to add the family member as a dependent after creating your account. 
   2. If you do not remember your username or password, you can hit “trouble logging in” to get your username sent to you or request a password reset email. You can also email athleticsfrontdesk@lakeheadu.ca or activeu@lakeheadu.ca for account access support.
3. Navigate to your program of choice by going to Program Registration, selecting the classification “Campus Recreation”, and then selecting the correct “Semester ” (Fall 2022)”. You can narrow your search further by “Category” if necessary – the category for this program is Volleyball
4. Select your desired program.
5. Click “Register” next to the offering you are wanting to register for. Then, click “register” next to the name of the family member you are registering, if not yourself. If your family member is not listed there, click “add a family member” to create their profile
   1. If the register button is missing, it is likely that you or your family member are missing a birthday on your profile, which is required for any age restricted programs! You can edit or add birthdays by hitting your username in the top right corner of the page. You’ll need to change the ‘Viewing As’ person to the individual whose birthday you are trying to change, and then can hit the edit button.
6. Complete the registration steps
   1. For the waiver page, be sure to click on the grey box and then sign in the white pop up box
   2. For the custom prompts, make sure you have selected a response for all required questions
7. Check out
8. You will receive a confirmation email if registration has been completed correctly.