Physiotherapist brings disabled children closer to skateboarding – 01/29/2023 – Sport

When he was 12 years old, Naiumy dos Reis was looking for the freedom that represents the transition from childhood to adolescence, as all children do.

For many of them, it is through sport that they find the sensations they want to experience. In the case of the young woman from Rio Grande do Sul, it was the wind in her face, overcoming a maneuver or simply paddling on a skateboard that gave her the much-desired independence.

It has been like this since the first contact with extreme sport. “I felt freedom,” he tells Sheet the young woman, now 19 years old.

“When she went down the ramp and opened that huge smile, and she is very expressive, there was no denying that it was an incredible experience”, says her mother, the neuropsychopedagogue Roberta Reis.

Roberta filmed Naiumy’s first steps on the skateboard. It was a surprise for her since the contact with the modality occurred during a physiotherapy session. The young woman was born with schizencephaly, a type of paralysis caused by malformation in the brain. Her mother does not hide that she got scared when she saw her daughter on the skateboard. But she trusted her.

“There are moments when I get emotional, but like that day no one will get over it.”

The desire to start the practice came from the young woman herself. The desire was born from conversations with physiotherapist Stevan Pinto, a skater in his spare time. He liked the idea and, in the session following the day she expressed this desire, he presented an adapted skateboard.

“I used her own walker, which was the resource she used for gait training in therapy. It was adapted and adjusted to allow for skateboarding”, recalls Stevan. “Her mother filmed her first experience, going down a ramp at the clinic, and we can still see the satisfaction she had.”

For him, the young woman’s emotion was the main gain. “For a person in a wheelchair, being able to practice an extreme sport like skateboarding and still standing is an immense satisfaction”, he says.

“When she got to know the skate culture, she also saw that it was a welcoming culture. She made friends. It was a form of social inclusion”, he adds.

The motivation caused by the sport influenced her development, especially in physiotherapy. “After that, her performance on the march improved a lot. It’s what stands out the most”, says Stevan.

Based on his experience with Naiumy, he decided to create a project to bring this type of experience to other children with disabilities. Thus, in 2015, SkateAnima was born. The experience, which takes place one Sunday a month, brings together parents and children in some parks in Porto Alegre.

Each skateboard is adapted according to the needs of practitioners. For the necessary adjustments, various types of material are used: elastic bands, pieces of rubber and recyclable items, such as tire ply. Some need the support of a walker.

Subject of the article for the completion of Stevan’s specialization course in neurofunctional physiotherapy, the project has sought to expand to other regions of the country. From February 25th to March 5th, for example, the professional and his team will be in São Paulo, in partnership with specialized institutions.

It will be an opportunity to create new bonds with children who have become interested in skateboarding since 2021, when Brazilian athletes excelled in the sport at the Tokyo Olympics.

“The Olympics helped change certain stigmas about skateboarding,” says Stevan.

Naiumy and her mother, for example, watched together the performance of Brazilian skaters in Japan. The young woman became a fan of Luiz Francisco, Luizinho, who competed in the park modality.

This Sunday (29), she and her mother will follow the start of the World Skate Championship, the first qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Games. The competition will be held at the Aljada Skatepark complex in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates.

Disputes begin with the street modality, from January 29th to February 5th, and continue with the park, from February 5th to 12th.

Naiumy intends to follow all the disputes, but he always liked to see street competitions, since “the obstacles are the same ones we see on the street”.

Brazilians at the World Skateboarding

In the women’s street, there will be five names from the main Brazilian team and one from the junior team: Gabriela Mazetto, Kemily Suiara, Marina Gabriela, Pâmela Rosa, Rayssa Leal and Maria Clara (junior). Carla Karolina, who is not part of the national team, will also be in the dispute.

In the men’s street, the six skaters from the main team and one from the junior team will participate in the event: Eduardo Neves, Gabryel Aguilar, João Lucas Alves, Felipe Gustavo, Giovanni Vianna, Lucas Rabelo and Filipe Mota (junior). Carlos Ribeiro, Ivan Monteiro, Kelvin Hoefler and Vinicius Costa will also represent Brazil.

In the women’s park, Brazil will have the six names from the main team and two from the junior team: Dora Varella, Erica Leguizamon, Isadora Pacheco, Raicca Ventura, Victoria Bassi, Yndiara Asp, Fernanda Tonissi (junior) and Sofia Godoy (junior). Emily Antunes and Lua Vicente are still among the representatives of national skateboarding.

In the men’s park, among the skaters of the selection, there will be five names from the main team, Augusto Akio, Luigi Cini, Murilo Peres, Pedro Barros and Pedro Quintas, and two from the junior team: Gui Khury and Kalani Konig. Andre Mariano, Héricles Fagundes, Mateus Hiroshi, Pedro Carvalho and Sandro Dias will also represent Brazil.

Luiz Francisco, from the Brazilian national team, is recovering from an injury and did not go to Sharjah.