Welcome to the first post of World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ new blog page!

Each week we will provide an update on some of our activities, ideas for projects, news from around the world, or anything else that we think might be of interest. If you have ideas or would like us to focus on a particular topic then please feel free to contact us.

Last week the World Intellectual Impairment Sport staff had the opportunity to attend a one-day social media course with internet expert Jonny Ross. Jonny runs a consultancy company to help organisations such as World Intellectual Impairment Sport achieve the most from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube and though we have been using these sites for around 5 years, it was great to learn more about the opportunities they can offer to help promote sport for athletes with an intellectual disability.

The timing of the workshop was perfect as we are just a few days away from the start of Global ID Sports Week 2016 (GIDSW). This is a week long celebration of sport for athletes with an intellectual disability and we will be using social media to share stories and make announcements about the work we and our many member organisations around the world do.

GIDSW begins on 25th June when the World Intellectual Impairment Sport staff will be joining around a hundred young athletes competing in the English Open National Athletics Championships where perhaps the next World Intellectual Impairment Sport athlete will be spotted!

You can support GIDSW by sharing your stories and news, or simply by following us on social media and re-posting our posts and tweets. Please share our pages with your friends and colleagues too and help us to make the most of social media during Global ID Sports Week 2016.

Today marks a 1-month until Global ID Sports Week – a week-long celebration of sport for athletes with an intellectual disability.

The initiative, now in its second year, uses the power of social media to grow awareness of opportunities for athletes with an intellectual disability around the world to enjoy sport and competition to the highest level.

This year will mark a particularly special milestone for World Intellectual Impairment Sport – the International Association of Sport for para-athletes with an intellectual disability – as it coincides with the organisations 30th anniversary having been founded in 1986.

Amaury Russo, World Intellectual Impairment Sport President explained “Sport for athletes with an intellectual disability does not enjoy the same high profile as other areas of sport and so this year a number of our member organisations will be holding events and activities around the World in an effort to grow awareness”.

Amongst the activities being held are an athletics championship in the UK and a large multi-sport event in Colombia. It will culminate in the opening ceremony of the 2016 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Athletics Championships (Europe) that take place in Ankara, Turkey.

In 2015, World Intellectual Impairment Sport saw a 1200% increase in its social media activity as a result of the project.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport – the International Federation for sport for para-athletes with an intellectual disability – are pleased to announce the awarding of the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Athletics Championships to Thailand. The event will be hosted by the Sport Association for Intellectual Disability of Thailand from 12 to 19 May 2017

Following the successful hosting of the 2016 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Asia Swimming Championships – the first World Intellectual Impairment Sport Asia regional championships in any sport – World Intellectual Impairment Sport is excited about the prospect of taking the world championship athletics event to the region for the first time.

With recent editions of World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ largest single sport event having been to Czech Republic, Italy, Brazil, Australia and Tunisia, the 2017 Championships provides an opportunity to engage and showcase athletes with an intellectual disability to a new audience.

Paul Charnvit, President of World Intellectual Impairment Sport Asia, “This is Asia’s first opportunity to host an World Intellectual Impairment Sport world athletics championships and thus a great step forward in allowing Asian athletics athletes to go further into world-class competitions. We hope that the international athletes will have the opportunity to visit the beautiful country of Thailand and take part in developing disabled sports here – the Land of Smiles.”

Over 150 athletes from more than 20 countries are expected to compete across the full athletics programme, making it the biggest athletics event for elite intellectually disabled athletes globally.  For many the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Athletics Championships is the pinnacle to their athletic career and a chance to compete against the best intellectually disabled athletes in the world.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport would like to extend its thoughts and condolences to the people of Ecuador following the news of the devastating earthquake over the weekend.

Many of the cities affected, including Guayaquil, hosted the 2015 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games just a few months ago. World Intellectual Impairment Sport President, Amaury Russo, said “We were saddened to see the pictures of the devastation caused by this earthquake and extend our thoughts to those who lost their lives. On behalf of everybody at World Intellectual Impairment Sport we wish Ecuador well as they begin the process of rebuilding”.