Europe tackles the future of Para sports

Andrew Parsons attends EPC Conference in Israel 16 May 2019
Imagen
A man and a woman holding a plate

IPC President Andrew Parsons with Israel Sport and Culture minister Miri Regev at the EPC Conference

ⒸKeren Isaacson
By NPC Israel and IPC

More than 100 participants from 35 countries, including International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons, have attended the 2019 European Paralympic Committee (EPC) Conference and General Assembly in Netanya, Israel.

‘Tackling the future’ was the theme of the event, which was organised by the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Israel and led by EPC President Ratko Kovacic.

Representatives from European NPCs, International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled (IOSDs), sports federations and European sport organisations were among the attendees.

EPC President Kovacic opened the conference followed by NPC Israel President Yehoshua Dekel. Parsons then shared the new vision and strategic goals of the IPC.

Updates were given on the next Paralympic Games and Winter Paralympics from the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Organising Committees, before a series of presentations and talks.

Among those was a talk on technology in Paralympic sports, led by Osnat Fliess Douer, director of Science and Technology at NPC Israel. The presentation ended with a suggestion to create a European scientific and technological forum, to consult and share ideas mainly on athlete safety issues.

The conference also included lectures and round table discussions following the ‘Tackling the future’ theme. Among the topics raised was how to improve the collaboration between NPCs.

Away from the Conference, President Parsons also met with Israel Sport and Culture Minister Miri Regev, the National Olympic Committee of Israel and representatives of local sports federations.