With the Winter Olympic Games ended and attention fading from Sochi, one class on UNC’s campus is fighting to increase awareness about the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, opening today.
“Our goal is for all UNC students to be aware of the Paralympic games and hopefully tune in and watch,” said Diane Groff, the professor for a class on disability, culture and therapeutic recreation.
The nine days of Paralympic competitions will include alpine skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling.
To achieve their goal, the students have divided into several groups. Class members are compiling photos, running a blog, managing a Facebook page and a Twitter account, setting up events and seeking newspaper coverage as part of their awareness campaign.
Groff said though many of the students don’t come from a communications background, they have come together to quickly and adeptly promote their message.
Ashley Thomas, a parakayaker and the executive director of Bridge II Sports, a Durham-based nonprofit that provides physically challenged adults and children with the opportunity to play individual and team sports, spoke on the importance of community when it comes to para-athletics.
“The world of adaptive sports is a small, small world, and you end up knowing everyone from across the country,” said Thomas, who also spoke Thursday at an event arranged by Groff’s class.
“Diane (Groff) came across my world multiple times, and I first engaged with her eight or nine years ago.”
Promoting the Paralympics, which will receive 52 hours of coverage across NBC and NBCSN, is one feature of the class, but there are many more hands-on aspects, said senior Andrew Tugman, an exercise and sport science major.
