Golf is an accessible sport for Canadians of all ages, a game that is open to the masses, and that most certainly includes visually impaired and blind golfers. There are almost 38,000,000 Canadians, and according to the CNIB there are 500,000 Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Only a small fraction knows about blind golf.
5,700,000 players across Canada enjoy golf, with many of those golfers being under the age of 30. Some of those persons are blind or visually impaired and chose to call golf a sport they love. If you know anyone who wants to try the game out again, or they want to try it out for their first time, reach out to us here at OBG. Our mission is to promote the game within the blind and visually impaired community, and ensure accessibility, diversity and inclusion remain the pillars of our purpose.
But what does diversity and inclusion mean in blind golf? How accessible is accessible?
Removing selective membership and joining processes for the disabled is one important consideration when it comes to ensuring diversity. Many different kinds of issues might prevent some persons in the disabled, blind community from being able to join. Financial restrictions, visual impairments that are often combined with other chronic conditions, limitations to golf facilities and of course access to coaches that care enough to make blind golf happen around the world.
We encourage everyone to consider unique ways to challenge traditional conventions. Make a difference. Work with a club, and their professionals to get a sponsorship to play a set number of games with your coach. Take pride in being able to work with such a group, and proudly share their details not just on your sleeve, but with your kind words of appreciation and gratitude. There are 800+ courses across Ontario, with major population centers having a greater number of courses. Every blind and visually impaired person is somewhere near at least one.
Another consideration is alternative memberships. In the case of all courses, offering disabled membership should be more than just a given. It should be absolute. People of all walks of life are diverse by nature, coming together to form a community. A home. A nation. Alternative memberships allow blind and visually impaired golfers, and other disabled golfers to be not only represented but enabled to succeed where others in the past might not have been so fortunate. I don’t know of a single blind golfer who played with sighted golfers that had a bad experience. It’s an experience they soon won’t forget and by changing the paradigms we change what “membership” means.
When it comes to other sponsorships, like sporting companies, or local and regional companies that would love to sponsor a disabled sportsperson – the sky is the limit. Fundraising starts with OBG, BGA, and IBGA events that are not easy or cheap to organize and run. It makes sense to focus the majority of those efforts on the marquee events. It also makes sense to work with different budgets, and different companies and associations that may help the individual succeed. There are some great ideas out there, and if you are looking to talk to someone about how that might work then send us an email.
Inclusion also means that youth, women, non-gender conforming persons and any and all ethnicities all deserve to be part of this sport. Establishing events that allow specific groups to exclusively participate is more than just an objective. It is the future of blind golf in Ontario and Canada. Around the world. Think about ways you can share this post and website with other blind and visually impaired persons you may know. Loved ones, family, friends. Remind them of the importance of inclusion and making that happen is a road we all need to travel. Together we can make things better.
A quick word about accessibility and making websites accessible and usable by as many people as possible. Most believe this is about people with disabilities, but the practice of making golf club and golf organization sites accessible also allows other groups (persons using mobile devices, slow network connections, slower devices, etc.) to benefit. Besides it is also the law. Not just a moral, or ethical law. The real deal legal legislation and rules of law. It’s about doing the right thing.
Is OBG perfect as an organization? No.
But then again, no organization is. With growth and lessons, good and bad, comes the move forward. A new dawn, a new day. Learn from the failures, and be grateful for the good lessons.
Just try to be the best you can be, for the sake of all golfers from any walk of life, everywhere.
May you master all fairways, may your chips be magic, and your putts be true.