INAS celebrates Global ID Sports Day

Member organisations and partners across the world have come together on Friday (12 June) to support the inaugural Global ID Sports Day, to raise awareness and celebrate intellectually disabled sport.

Across the 77 International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS) member nations, support has been shown for the event, such as Portugal hosting an International Indoor Rowing event, USA announcing their team for the upcoming Global Games and Brazil hosting a futsal event in Sao Paulo.

“Global ID Sports Day is a fantastic opportunity to promote sport for athletes with an intellectual disability,” Amaury Russo, INAS President, said. “2015 is an exciting year for INAS with growth in membership, the 2015 Ecuador Global Games and 13 international and regional events already hosted this year.

With the support of clubs, sports organisations, governments and media around the world getting behind Global ID Sports Day, we can continue to make real progress to help break down barriers and grow awareness of our athletes, members and programmes.”

Global ID Sports Day will use multiple events and activities to raise awareness, and harness corporate and media support for its members and athletes.

Supporters are encouraged to use the hashtag #GlobalIDSportsDay and follow @Inassport on Twitter.

100 days to go until the 2015 Ecuador Global Games

Friday (12 June) also marks 100 days to go until the 2015 Ecuador Global Games in Quito, Ecuador. The INAS Global Games is one of the biggest sporting events for athletes with an intellectual disability.

The Opening Ceremony will take place on 20 September, with competitions following taking place across 10 venues.

Notably, athletes will get a chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, as both the athletics and swimming events are sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

“I have enjoyed lots of success over the years at INAS competitions, and I am training hard to continue doing so at future events,” Great Britain’s Peter Millar said.

The 1st INAS Global Games were held in Bollnas, Sweden, in 2004. To date, more than 2,500 athletes have competed in the event over the three editions. This year’s edition is set to be the biggest, with more than 1,000 athletes across nine sports: athletics, swimming, table tennis, rowing, basketball, futsal, tennis, taekwondo and cycling.

It is the first time the event will have been held outside of Europe, as Sweden, Czech Republic and Italy were previous hosts.

As part of 100 days to go celebrations, Federacion Ecuatoriana de Deportes para Personas con Discapacidad Intelectual (FEDEDI), in conjunction with the Ecuadorian Paralympic Committee, will be hosting a multi-sport event giving athletes with an intellectual disability opportunities to try sports they have not competed in before.