Canada’s Allison Lang exudes confidence and expertise on the sitting volleyball court docket. She has gained silver medals within the final three World ParaVolley and zone occasions, and presently showcased her abilities on the 2024 WPV Girls’s Tremendous 6 in Nancy, France. Past these achievements and different athletic pursuits, she can be a passionate advocate for physique positivity.
Competing on the Girls’s Tremendous 6, Lang and her teammates confronted a few of the greatest squads on the planet. Reflecting on the expertise, she emphasised the educational alternatives the competitors offered.
“We’re engaged on many new issues main as much as the Paralympics, specializing in the method and implementing new methods we’ve been creating for the reason that World Cup,” she shared. The possibility to reconnect and compete in opposition to high worldwide groups has been invaluable for her and the workforce as they try to reinforce their abilities and velocity on the court docket.
Lang’s objectives lengthen far past private and workforce achievements, carrying along with her a dedication to raise the profile of sitting volleyball, particularly in her personal nation. “Our largest purpose is rising not solely our workforce however our programme and hopefully membership tournaments throughout the nation,” Lang acknowledged.
Her imaginative and prescient consists of elevating consciousness round Para sports activities, showcasing the distinctive facets of sitting volleyball, and provoking younger athletes to take up the game.
Born with one leg, Lang’s passage to self-acceptance has been marked by challenges, together with extreme bullying throughout her childhood. Regardless of these hardships, she discovered power and empowerment by means of sports activities.
Becoming a member of the sitting volleyball workforce at 16 was an eye-opening expertise, serving to her embrace her physique and incapacity. Now, Lang passionately advocates for physique positivity, aiming to be a task mannequin for others going through comparable struggles.
“I grew up hiding my incapacity,” Lang recalled. “However by means of affirmations, gratitude, and the help of my teammates, I discovered to like my physique.”
Her mantra is evidently clear that everybody, no matter their bodily situation, deserves to have fun their our bodies and discover pleasure in motion.
The Canadian athlete’s advocacy extends to encouraging people with disabilities to discover varied sports activities. She highlights the significance of illustration, noting the shortage of disabled athletes in media and the insufficient protection of the Paralympics. “I hope to turn out to be a task mannequin for somebody seeking to discover Para sport and take a look at one thing new,” Lang expressed, referring to her journey that underscores the necessity for visibility and alternatives for disabled athletes.
She passionately believes within the distinctive attraction of sitting volleyball, because the self-discipline requires power, quickness, and resilience, providing a fast-paced and aggressive setting. “It’s an unimaginable sport that brings collectively numerous teams of individuals,” Lang enthused. For her, sitting volleyball isn’t just a sport however a group the place folks of all backgrounds and talents can come collectively and compete.
As Allison Lang continues to coach and compete, her affect as an advocate for sitting volleyball and physique positivity grows. With the Paris 2024 Paralympic video games on the horizon, she and her teammates are extra decided to make their mark and encourage many extra athletes.
