IPC Strategic Planning Seminar On Its Way

At its last General Assembly, the IPC constituencies decided to have a Strategic Planning Conference in 2001 in order to set the strategic directions for the organization’s future.

The IPC President commissioned me as Vice-President Policy and Planning to organize this congress with the support from our professional staff. The main topics to be discussed during the congress will include the IPC role in general, the planning of the organization’s future strategic goals, the structure, membership and responsibilities of the IPC Committees as well as the rights and responsibilities of the IPC stakeholders.

Five nations (United Kingdom, Cambodia, Spain, Malaysia and the Netherlands) have confirmed interest in hosting the seminar. It is preliminarily scheduled for April 25 to 30, 2001. That would give enough time to deal with any potential matters requiring motions that affect the IPC Constitution at the General Assembly, which will be held around November 2001. I hope that many delegates from the IPC member nations, the IOSDs and sports will be able attend this significant congress.

From my perspective, the congress’ main objective should be to build and align members of IPC towards a common vision, to develop strategic priorities of IPC towards the future vision, to develop a management structure, system and global network to implement the strategic IPC policy priorities and to build the team and collaborative spirit of all members of IPC and develop the collective leadership of the Paralympic Movement.

Topics of the Conference shall include Paralympics philosophy, future Paralympic Games, IPC sports development and management, national and regional development, IPC Commissions, Resources and financial strategy, promotion, marketing and image, etc..

I shall be inviting many of our IPC leaders with diverse background and experience to participate in the organization and presentations at the Conference, and we also like to invite prominent international and sports leaders as our plenary speakers. Please feel free to recommend any potential speakers to us, so that we can have a fruitful interaction and be able to map out our directions for the new phase of Paralympics.

We shall be sending out more information and formal invitation to all members by August 2000, and look forward to your input and active participation.

Dr. York Chow
IPC Vice-President, Policy and Planning

INAS-FID Launches Official Website

The official website of INAS-FID came to life in March. Information about the International Sports Federation for People with an Intellectual Disability can now be found at the address http://www.inas-fid.org. INAS-FID is progressing to become an open and accessible federation. With the new Internet site, INAS takes another step forward in its development and promotion of sports for people with an intellectual disability.

The new website offers a wide variety of information, ranging from sports calendars to the meetings of their Executive and Technical Committees. It also includes detailed information on INAS-FID‘s staff, Sport Committees, and member nations. This website, which is published in English and Spanish, the official languages of INAS-FID, is updated monthly.

Additionally, the website provides the opportunity for input through its "Mailbox for Suggestions". All in-coming mail will be thoroughly read and taken into consideration for the future development of INAS-FID and the website. New information such as magazine articles and photographs will be added to the site on a regular basis.

What’s on currently? Published on the site are the minimum criteria for participation in each sport at the Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000. This information is currently available for athletics, swimming, basketball and table tennis. We will continue to develop this site in the near future.

Sara Pérez
Editor-in-Chief, INAS-FID

Nottingham Will Host CP ISRA's 2001 World Games ... Robin Hood Games

Nottingham has long been regarded as the city of opportunity for cerebral palsy athletes. Ever since 1989, CP athletes have been invited to go to Nottingham every four years and take part in the Robin Hood Games. CP ISRA is pleased to announce that the Games for 2001 have now been confirmed and will again go ahead in Nottingham from July 19th to 30th. A full range of CP ISRA events will be made available including events for classes 1 and 2 and a full range of events for women participants. Under the circumstances, it is easy to see why Nottingham is now viewed as the second home of CP athletes.

As far as the organizers were concerned, the object of the Robin Hood Games initially was to provide much-needed opportunities, so that athletes might prove themselves before the Paralympics. But little acorns have a habit of developing into big trees and while providing opportunity still remains uppermost in the aims of the organizers, the quality of performances has become increasingly more important. Although the search for new and developing talents goes on, the need to provide a platform for international-class performers is now greater than ever.

In 1989, there were 400 competitors in Nottingham. In 1993, the number rose to 600 and in 1997, there were more than 800. For 2001, we expect entries from 1,200 competitors from more than 40 countries. Apart from track and field athletics, the program will also include swimming, cycling, bowls, table tennis and soccer. As always, it will also include a developmental program with seminars on issues affecting all CP ISRA sports groups and member nations.

Dr. Colin Rains
President, CP-ISRA