Abdul Hameed: Winning gold in the hearts and minds of people in sports

When you think of sports stars, famous individuals with high wages and trophy collections may be the first thought that comes to mind. But in the shadows of the limelight of these high-profile personalities are truly inspiring sports champions, such as Abdul Hameed.

Abdul is a passionate young gentleman working up and down the country with one mission in mind – to make the playing field fair in sports for people with learning disabilities.

For five years Abdul has proudly held the position of co-tutor on the Learning Disability in Sport Awareness Workshop, run by Mencap. This role sees Abdul in the leading position in the fight to raise awareness of learning disabilities in the sporting arena.

He delivers these workshops to a variety of different people. These include sports coaches, leaders, volunteers, clubs, and organisations to improve their knowledge, skills, and confidence to include people with a learning disability as an integral part of the sports they deliver.

The workshops started through a partnership with the Special Olympics Great Britain where Mencap worked with them to develop a three-hour workshop that would better equip organisations, to enable them to work better with people with learning disabilities.

Abdul works alongside Jon, his colleague at Mencap, to deliver these workshops, and their relationship whilst doing so has seen them present in sports venues in London (including at Arsenal, the team Abdul supports), Plymouth, and Sheffield, to name a few.

“In the last financial year, Abdul and Jon have delivered their workshops over 17 times, and to over 300 people; Abdul is a man in demand!”

Abdul has ADHD, a learning disability and an eye condition, and his passion for what he does comes from the injustice he has unfortunately experienced throughout his life.

He described moments in his life when he and his friends were subject to unfair treatment, and discrimination due to their disabilities in sports. Abdul spoke about how these moments had stuck with him, and the levels of upset and frustration it had caused for him and his friends.

Abdul made the brave decision to turn the negative experiences he has been subject to into a positive and uses all his energy and enthusiasm to ensure no one else with a learning disability will have to experience what he has, and what he has felt.

This is what makes Abdul a true leader, and a real sportsman.

He uses clever and thought-provoking ways to get people attending the workshop to understand how it feels to be in the shoes of someone with a learning disability within sports.

One way he does this is by asking the audience to write a paragraph with their weaker hand. He said everyone was confused and wondered why they were made to do this, as they felt it was impossible. There are other activities on the workshop that Abdul says can help people.

These creative ways get people out of their realities, and into the perspective of someone with learning disabilities.

But it’s not just the creative delivery of the workshop that makes these such a success, at the core of its success is Abdul and his passion, energy, and dedication to the cause.

He has touched the hearts and minds of many during his journey to helping people with learning disabilities stay fit and healthy. Here is just some of the feedback he has received:

“It’s actually given some of my team members the spur to want to involve people with lived experience in their training sessions, so thank you so much for that”

“Really enjoyed the workshop, not only helped me better understand the difference between disability  and learning disability, it completely destroyed my stereotypical imagine that one goes hand to hand with the other, plus it was super interesting to understand what is typically seen as a barrier/obstacle and how it can be overcome with different tools and approaches depending on the person/athlete.”

Now it is time for Abdul to receive his trophy and recognition for being a true sportsman, who is taking the lead on making an incredible difference to the lives of many.