PE coach to Chinese children with learning difficulties proves there are no barriers to experiencing the joy of sport
Dai Jianrong, one of the mainland coaches qualified to train athletes for the Special Olympics, has spent his career developing talents of children with intellectual disabilities
Sports teacher Dai Jianrong, who works at a Chinese school for children with learning difficulties in Yunnan province, is one of the mainland coaches qualified to train athletes for the Special Olympics, which holds its international games every two years. He tells Alice Yan his job takes patience and devotion, but can be intensely rewarding.
How did you embark on your career?
I was born in a village in Jinning county in Yunnan province and after graduation from university in 1993, I became the only PE teacher at Kunming Xinmeng School. Our school was the only institution in Kunming targeting children with intellectual disabilities.
The next year I got to know about the Special Olympics and began to apply its approach on my students. The Washington-based Special Olympics is the world’s largest organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Some students can’t even eat by themselves. Therefore, if we can teach these kids to do some daily necessities, it will to some extent ‘ liberate’ their families
In 2001, the government, for the first time in its history, held large-scale training for Special Olympics coaches and I joined the southwest China session with a total of 60 trainees in our class. I was the only one selected to continue studying in a senior coach class. Later I was chosen to study in the highest-ranking training session: the lecturer’s class. Among the 20 people attending, eight people are still in their position as a Special Olympics coach.