New Proud Paralympian Educators trained in Bonn

From 12-15 February 2020, the Agitos Foundation hosted the second edition of the Proud Paralympian Educator Course in co-operation with the World Academy of Sport (WAoS) in Bonn, Germany.

The course aimed to certify 12 selected Paralympians and elite Para athletes to become Proud Paralympian Educators. Over three days the participants improved and practiced their facilitation skills and focused on delivering learner-centred activities. The course provided a platform to meet each other, exchange experience and knowledge, and form a network of programme ambassadors that inspires and educates the athlete community.

“Every Paralympian has a unique journey. I learnt so much from the other Proud Paralympian Educators and we had a lot of fun along the way. I now feel much more confident to help developing athletes understand their potential and how they can achieve it”, said Australian track and field Paralympian Brad Scott, one of the participants of the course.

Proud Paralympian is the Agitos Foundation’s education programme that is delivered by athletes to athletes. The certified Proud Paralympian Educators deliver workshops and outreach activities at various events on behalf of the Agitos Foundation, providing Para athletes with the tools they need to give their best on and off the field of play. Empowered by their peers, they learn how to become leaders for Para sport.

Participants of the  Proud Paralympian Educator course were Benoit Huot (Para swimming, Canada), Brad Scott (Para athletics, Australia), Camila Haase (Para swimming, Costa Rica), Gavin Bellis (Para rowing, Australia), George Wyndham (Para table tennis, Sierra Leone), Jean Baptiste Murema (Sitting Volleyball, Rwanda), Jose Casas (Para athletics, Peru), Nurul Binte Mohammad Taha (Boccia, Singapore), Rachel Choong ( Para badminton, UK), Richard Fox (Football 7-a-side, UK), Stephen Miller (Para athletics, UK) and Tarek Zahry (Wheelchair tennis, Egypt).

“Over the four-day course, we continuously challenged ourselves to give effective feedback, adapt our behaviours to be learner-centred, and mentor others meaningfully”, said Nurul Binte Mohammad Taha. “I enjoyed working with and learning from the extremely diverse course participants and am excited to develop and deliver engaging Proud Paralympian workshop.”

The Proud Paralympian programme now has available 26 Proud Paralympian Educators from 19 different countries that are ready to deliver workshops from the toolkit of education materials in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic –14 other Educators were trained last October, also in Bonn.