|
|
|
Steadward: An
Exceptional Leader
At the IPC General Assembly, Greece, IPC Vice President Dr. York Chow held a farewell speech for the outgoing President Dr. Robert Steadward. “The Paralympian” publishes parts of this laudation. |
“It is a great honor for me to have the opportunity to pause for a moment with you in these busy and eventful days and to recapitulate where the IPC has come from, where it stands today and to thank that person who has been the chief architect of this development over the past twelve years and before. The Paralympic Movement is made up of thousands of dedicated people, who contribute to the success story of international sport for athletes with a disability in many different ways. Many have contributed some of their energies and others dedicated almost their entire lives to the movement. But one person has made a very special difference and this person is the President of the IPC since its inauguration in 1989: Dr. Robert Steadward.
Dr. Steadward’s commitment to sport for athletes with a disability started early during his studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. In one of his Physical Education courses, he was assigned the task of starting a wheelchair basketball team. So began a lifelong career and passionate involvement in sport for athletes with a disability. However, Dr. Steadward did not stay only with Wheelchair Basketball: He soon coached the swim and track teams of the first wheelchair club in Edmonton.
At the same time, he already took the next step, which meant getting involved in sports administration. Bob Steadward soon took on a leadership role first on local and provincial, then on national and later on international level. He first met Sir Ludwig Guttman in 1973 at the International Stoke Mandeville Games in Aylesbury, but soon had his own vision about the future of sport for athletes with a disability. For him, there was an urgent need to leave the rehabilitation model behind and to focus on a sports model. Over and over again, he encountered the problems of a fragmented sports movement, which was made up of four organizations involved in running the Paralympic Games. For the years to come, he fought for an international umbrella organization governed by representatives of national member organizations with a focus on elite sport.
Finally, in 1989, his dream became reality when the gathering of national federations for sports for disabled decided to found the IPC. He was elected President and the members of the IPC have proved their support to Dr. Steadward’s leadership by electing him twice again in 1993 and 1997.
Those who think that coaching, administration and leadership in disabled sport should be more than enough for the career of one single man, are proven wrong: Besides his involvement in sport, Bob Steadward also pursued a career as an outstanding university professor for physical education. He was a popular teacher of undergraduate anatomy and of Adapted Physical Education at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. In addition, as early as in 1977, he created a Research and Training Centre for the Physically Disabled at the University of Alberta, which was renamed “The Steadward Center” two years ago.
These countless contributions were also recognized outside the world of sport for athletes with a disability. Bob Steadward received the highest civilian honor in his home country, which is the Order of Canada. In addition, he received a Doktor Honoris Causa from Leuven University in Belgium. Dr. Steadward’s continuous contributions to bringing the Paralympic and the Olympic movement closer together will be one of the most important legacies of his presidency for the Paralympic Movement. We have started as a relatively small unknown organization and have risen to a recognized partner in the international world of sport. A great part of this success is based on your developing of IPC into a world class sports organization that can add value to the Olympic Movement.
The Paralympic Games have found their place in the international sports calendar and are becoming more and more popular and prominent. Dr. Steadward told the people of Australia last year that the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games were the best Games ever. This compliment can be returned directly to him. The Sydney Paralympic Games were the pinnacle of decades of hard work for the advancement of Paralympic sport and I am sure that everybody agrees that there can be no better time to say “Good-bye” as President than after the tremendous success of the Sydney Games.
On behalf of the entire Paralympic Movement, I would like to thank him for his passion and for his life-long dedication for sport for athletes with a disability. Thanks for his commitment to give athletes with a disability such great elite sporting opportunities." |
|
  
|
