No.47 May 2006 |
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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:
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 |
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