IPC Athletics’ education programme takes place in El Salvador

IPC Athletics’ education programme moved to Central America in April as San Salvador, El Salvador, played host to 20 participants who took part in a National Technical Officials (NTO) course ahead of the country’s first major para-athletics competition which will take place in June.

The programme, supported by the Agitos Foundation, was the second to take place in Spanish after March’s course in Ecuador, and follows similar initiatives in the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia.

The three-day course provided vital preparation for the region’s para-athletics officials with the 2015 track and field season now underway.

The Torneo de Atletismo meeting in just over four weeks’ time will be El Salvador’s first IPC sanctioned competition and an essential stepping stone as many of the country’s top para-athletes look to qualify for August’s Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games.

Course leader Richard Roberts said: “For developing countries like El Salvador programmes like this are very important.

“Developing nations have limited experience in hosting international competitions and in full compliance with all the regulations of the sport. The first throwing frame in the country was fabricated just two weeks ago.

“El Salvador’s National Paralympic Committee organised and provided very good support for the course, which was taught through a combination of didactic lecture material, numerous photos and a collection of videos by which to visualise what they had learned by discussing the application of the competition rules.

“Many of the NTOs printed the Spanish version of the IPC Athletics rulebook from which they studied.”

The next IPC Athletics education programme will take place in Arizona, USA, in May in conjunction with the sixth IPC Athletics Grand Prix of the 2015 series before heading to Nottwil, Switzerland.