Partners and Events
No.47
May 2006
 
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Vista 2006: Classification: Solutions for the Future
Colin Higgs
 

The Vista series of conferences, which started in 1993 in Jasper, Alberta, are focused on sport and physical activity for persons with a disability, and are unique in that they deliberately attempt to bring together academics/researchers, sport practitioners, and athletes to discuss issues of mutual interest.
The 2006 Vista Conference hosted in Bonn, Germany, from May 6-7 by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), focused on the issue of sport classification for athletes with a disability. As Sir Philip Craven, (IPC President) noted in his opening remarks, “Classification is the most important issue in sport for persons with a disability, and is what differentiates the Paralympic Movement from all other sporting endeavors.” The purpose of classification systems is to permit fair and equitable competition among athletes of approximately equal functional capacity.
With more than 250 people in attendance, and a wide range of papers presented, there was opportunity for wide-ranging discussion, some of which focused on very specific technical issues of classification in particular sports, and some of which related to the historical development of classification, and to theoretical problems of classification systems in general.
Major keynote addresses were made by:
  • Dr. Yves Vanlanderwijck (Belgium) who addressed the scientific perspective of classification from an historical viewpoint.
  • Ms. Trish Jensen (USA) who spoke on the process of developing the new IPC Classification Code and International Standards
  • Dr. Jennifer Mactavish (Canada), who addressed the issue of creating an evidence-based classification system for athletes with intellectual disability.
  • Dr. Colin Higgs (Canada) whose closing keynote raised theoretical problems associated with all classification systems, and who proposed a radically different approach to the issues of creating fair and meaningful competition for athletes with a disability.
Within the body of the conference several themes emerged, most prominently the empirically demonstrated need for classification systems to be sport-specific or, potentially, even event or position specific; and the need for classification systems to be open and transparent to the athletes, and understandable by spectators and the media.
Closing the conference, Sir Philip committed the IPC to continuing to support the development of fair, equitable and meaningful classification systems.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Colin Higgs
Memorial University of Newfoundland
School of Human Kinetics and Recreation
Elizabeth Avenue
A1C 5S7 St. John's
Newfoundland
Canada
chiggsconsulting@mac.com





http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5