Para-sport development projects to receive support

“In 2015, we received a huge number of proposals that were of an incredibly high standard, and this made the job of evaluating and selecting the successful projects very difficult."

The development arm of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Agitos Foundation, has announced that 31 para-sport development projects will receive EUR 650,000 through the 2015 edition of its Grant Support Programme (GSP).

The projects, which are predicted to impact thousands of people from all four corners of the globe, come from 17 National Paralympic Committees, three Regional Organisations, 10 International Federations and one International Organisation of Sports for the Disabled.

The GSP was launched in 2013 and aims to provide support to the IPC Membership in developing para-sport and in reaching their own organisational goals.

Georg Schlachtenberger, Director of the Agitos Foundation, said: “This is the third edition of the Grant Support Programme and we continue to see an improvement in the quality and number of applications.

“In 2015, we received a huge number of proposals that were of an incredibly high standard, and this made the job of evaluating and selecting the successful projects very difficult.

“Once again, I believe this shows that not only are we enabling countries and organisations to develop para-sport towards future Paralympic Games and Championships, but we are also encouraging the ongoing professionalisation of the Paralympic Movement around the world.

“The GSP is the biggest programme dedicated to developing para-sport and one which we are immensely proud to be able to offer to the IPC Membership.”

Based on the predictions from the applications received, nearly 60,000 athletes, coaches, classifiers and members of the public will be reached through various training workshops, coaching sessions, research opportunities and festivals of para-sport.

Activities supported this year include:

- National Paralympic Day and school visits to raise awareness of para-sports and involve children with impairments in sport in Israel

- A series of nationwide Paralympic School Days and a para-sport festival in Georgia

- A development clinic in Malaysia encompassing training in wheelchair rugby for athletes, coaches and officials from across Asia

- Training national athletics classifiers from the Oceania region

- Developing cross-country skiing in Brazil

- Attracting, educating and training young athletes in ice sledge hockey

- Development of testing equipment for classifying visually impaired athletes

In 2015, the Agitos Foundation called for applications from National Paralympic Committees and Regional Organisations that aimed to improve awareness of the Paralympic Movement, educate or develop athletes or train national coaches, classifiers and technical officials.

International Federations and International Organisations of Sport for the Disabled were invited to submit proposals for the development of educational tools or programmes for officials, coaches and classifiers, youth or development competitions, purchasing sport equipment or classification research and strategies.

Applications were particularly encouraged from IPC Members who planned to develop athlete pathways towards Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

The 2015 edition takes the total amount invested through the GSP to nearly EUR 2 million.

List of funded projects

National Paralympic Committees

- Angola, collaborative training of coaches and technical officials in Portuguese speaking African countries

- Benin, raising awareness of para-sports through regional Paralympic Days

- Brazil, developing cross-country skiing

- Colombia, talent identification and coaching in San Andres-Providencia, Nariño and Putumayo

- Ethiopia, improving athlete pathways

- Georgia, Paralympic School Days and para-sport festival

- Guinea, raising awareness of para-sports and preparing athletes for competition

- Israel, raising awareness of para-sports and involving children with impairments in sport

- Mongolia, promoting para-sports and talent identification towards Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020

- Netherlands, training and attracting more para-snowboarders

- Nicaragua, boot camp for young athletes

- Democratic People's Republic of Korea, developing infrastructure for para-sports towards Tokyo 2020

- Palestine, enhancing the structure of the National Paralympic Committee

- Rwanda, athlete pathways towards Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020

- Singapore, swimming classifier workshop

- Slovakia, collaboration with central European National Paralympic Committees to develop ice sledge hockey

- Tanzania, promoting para-sport in schools, colleges and universities

- Zimbabwe, talent identification and development

Regional Organisations

- Americas, athlete development in the Caribbean

- Asia, regional capacity building

- Oceania, training national athletics classifiers across the region

International Federations

- International Rowing Federation, para-rowing development and training camp and regatta

- International Tennis Federation, coaches’ education in South America

- International Triathlon Union, technical classification in para-triathlon

- International Wheelchair Basketball Federation, introduction to wheelchair basketball for developing National Organisations for Wheelchair Basketball

- International Wheelchair Rugby Federation, development clinic in Asia

- IPC Alpine Skiing and Snowboard, visual impairment classification research

- IPC Athletics, para-athletics coaching conference travel support

- IPC Ice Sledge Hockey, supporting youth training camps and education sessions

- IPC Powerlifting, high performance powerlifting coaching course

- World para-volley, qualification of officials in the South African sub zone

International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled

- International Blind Sports Federation, development of novel testing equipment for visual impairment classification.