Ting-peng Yeh, PhD Education • Doctor of Science at University of Taipei     Current position • Head of ‘Sports-for-All’ Division in Sports Administration of Ministry of Education

1) Sports Administration of Ministry of Education

Q1： To encourage deaf athletes to participate in international sports events, does the government have plans to cultivate more players?
A1： The government provides incentives for high-performance physically and mentally disabled athletes and meritorious coaches. The government will reward all mentally and physically disabled athletes that bring glory to the country, whether they are suffering from hearing impairment, physical disabilities or disabilities of other kinds.

Q2： Is the Guo-guang Sports Award for non-disabled athletes applicable to deaf athletes?
A2： Guo-guang Sports Award is for non-disabled athletes while deaf athletes will be rewarded financially according to "Incentives for high-performance physically and mentally disabled athletes and meritorious coaches".

Q3： Does the government provide financial assitance while athletes train for the competitions?
A3： The Sports Administration supports the deaf athletes during their training. The Administration budgets according to the sporting events the athletes participate in and the development of deaf sports on a yearly basis. The grant ratios are as high as 90% on average, and in some cases even reached 100%.

Q4： As indicated by the questionnaires we distributed during the 2015 World Deaf Basketball Championships in Taoyuan, the respondents generally thought that Taiwan government had not provided sufficient resources for deaf sports. Will the circumstances change in the future?
A4： The resources are allocated mainly to sports categories that are most likely to win medals according to the evaluation by the Chinese Taipei Sports Association of the Deaf (CTSAD), for the purpose of achieving best results. But with the attention from all sides, the Deaf Women's Basketball Team has made great progress recently.

Q5： The Deaf Women's Basketball Team was not able to participate in the 2013 Bulgaria Deaflympics Women's Basketball Games because of the shortage of athletes. Does the government have relevant athlete cultivation programs?
A5： Shortage of deaf athletes is a phenomenon common in countries around the world. Currently, the Administration is working with CTSAD to find potential athletes in various schools for the hearing-impaired and schools for special education. Good athletes tend to participate in several sports at the same time. There are chances that they might want to join the women's basketball team.

Q6： Does the Sports Administration have plans to promote women's basketball in the schools for the hearing-impaired?
A6： Many girls actually like playing basketball and basketball is now part of the physical education curriculum. For the moment, however, most of the potential athletes are found in the schools for the hearing-impaired.

Q7： How does the Sports Administration combine the power of private sectors to promote deaf sports?
A7： Currently, a great portion of the revenue from the Taiwan Sports Lottery is devoted to the elite deaf athletes. In 2013, we established a sports sponsorship platform for companies and corporations as an effort to serve as matchmakers for private sectors to provide support for deaf sports.

Q8： Given that the Deaf Women's Basketball Team does not have as many opportunities to participate in major sporting events and thus does not have substantial achievement to win the grants from the Sports Administration, are there other ways for the Sports Administration to support the Deaf Women's Basketball Team?
A8： CTSAD has launched the National Deaf Basketball Championships for the Deaf Women's Basketball Team to participate. We have also provided resources so that the team could participate in regular basketball games held by all levels of organizations. They have thus a wide range of opportunities to take part in sports events. We do not favor any particular sports category as to create any sort of unfair competition.