Inas is to receive a grant of more than €14,000 to fund a project to develop opportunities in Africa for athletes with an intellectual disability.

The project is one of 30 to receive funding from the Agitos Foundation – launched by the International Paralympic Committee to promote disability sport development around the World – and is funded by the recent IOC-IPC partnership agreement.

Inas identified development across all five continental regions as one its key aims in its recently published strategic plan, as it works to become a more global organisation. Despite its size, there are currently few African nations in membership of Inas and few athletes registered to compete in the intellectual disability classification. No athletes from Africa competed within the classification at the recent Paralympic Games in London.

Through the project, Inas aims to put in place a development taskforce who will build partnerships with disability sports providers and existing competition organisers to raise awareness of Inas and sport for athletes with an intellectual disability, build understanding of the eligibility and classification process, and begin to identify the pathways so that more athletes have an opportunity to progress in competition.

Nick Parr, Inas Executive Director thanked the Agitos Foundation for their support. “We were delighted to learn that our application had been successful as it helps our work to ensure more athletes, from more nations, have the opportunity to enjoy and succeed in sport. Inas membership has grown to an all-time high this year and I hope that the project will enable us to support more nations to be inclusive of athletes with an intellectual disability”.

The contract between Inas and the Local Organising Committee of the 2015 Inas Global Games was signed this week in a brief ceremony. The week long event takes place in Guayaquil, Ecuador and features elite sport competition for up to 1000 athletes with an intellectual disability in seven sports.

The contract was signed by Nick Parr, Inas Executive Director and Juan Carlos Araujo, President of the organising committee.

From Western Magazine, New South Wales:

Twins Bernadette and Eliza-Jane Mills have been named in the Australian Pearls team to contest the World Intellectual Impairment Sport World Basketball Championships in Turkey in October.

The twins, 21, are relative veterans of the team, having played in countless international tournaments.

The Pearls – Australia’s national women’s basketball team for players with an intellectual disability – will head to Turkey ranked number one in the world as a result of gold medals at the 2011 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games and the 2010 World Championships.

Long-serving head coach Larry Davidson has put together a talented side combining international experience and exciting young talent, and will look to the Mills twins to lead by example.

“Both Eliza and Bernie came into the side when they were around 15 or 16,” he said.

“They’re both very experienced and I will look to them to lead.

“Along with the other experienced players, I’d hope they’ll use that experience to guide our younger players around.”

Davidson’s request was justified, the twins believe, conceding the squad’s younger players would be anxious and in need of some guidance.

“They’ll be nervous,” Bernadette said.

“When I first went there I was overwhelmed.

“It’s a different level.”

“We’ll definitely look to help them,” Eliza added.

Davidson also heaped praise on the twins individually, highlighting their dedication as a main factor in their success.

“They’re both very athletic, determined young women,” he said.

“They’re rarely put off by anything, and both really get in and have a go.”

Davidson is under no illusions as to the size of the task facing his team, acknowledging their prospective opponents will be tougher than in previous competitions.

“The problem with playing the European nations is whether they have the money to send teams,” he said

“With the way the economic situation has been recently, when funds were low it has tended to be the women’s teams that get cut.

“But at the moment, it looks like most, if not all, involved nations will send teams.

“This means we’ll have a much tougher task ahead of us than perhaps we have in previous tournaments.

“And with that number one ranking all those teams will be out gunning for us.”

The twins agreed, pinpointing Russia and Japan as the Pearls’ main competition for a second consecutive title.

“Russia will be tough, if they come,” Eliza said.

“Japan too, they’re just little and fast,” Bernadette added.

While not getting ahead of herself Eliza conceded another gold medal is the ultimate goal.

“We’ve got to keep the record going,” she laughed.

“It’ll be tough,” Bernie added.

“But we never get sick of playing for Australia.”

Great Britain finished last week’s 5th World Intellectual Impairment Sport World Tennis Championships with an historic haul of three gold medals, as well as a silver and a bronze, after victories in the men’s singles and doubles finals capped a fantastic week for the Brits at the competition in Rakovnik, Czech Republic.

Great Britain had never won a medal at the event before but that changed when Fabrice Higgins finished as a triple world champion after winning gold in the men’s singles, men’s doubles and the team event.

With Chorley’s Higgins and Cheltenham’s Thomas Mellor having set up an all-British men’s singles final earlier in the week, their wait to decide the gold and silver medals ended in a 6-1, 6-0 victory for Higgins.

Higgins made another piece of history earlier in the week in his men’s singles semi-final after becoming the first player to ever beat the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sedlisky in singles competition at an World Intellectual Impairment Sport event.

Mellor added his silver medal in the men’s singles to the gold medal he won alongside Higgins earlier in the week when they beat Australia’s leading players in both the semi-finals and final of the team event.

And Higgins claimed his third gold medal of the World Championships with another victory over Australian opposition when he partnered Birkenhead’s Peter Millar to beat Joshua Holloway and Mitchell James 7-5, 6-1 in the men’s doubles final.

“It was an incredible experience playing for Great Britain and it still hasn’t sunk in yet that I have won three gold medals. I have met lots of new friends who I hope to see again in future events and I have loved every second of it,” said Higgins.

“I enjoyed everything about this week taking part in the World Intellectual Impairment Sport World Championships in the Czech Republic. It was great meeting so many new people in tennis and I really enjoyed playing both singles and doubles as part of the GB team. I would like to say thank you to the Tennis Foundation and UK Sports Association for supporting us as we had great preparation for the event and I’m sure that helped us do so well,” added Millar.

Millar gained more success in the men’s consolation singles after beating Italy’s Antonio Catalano 6-4, 6-1. It was Millar’s second consolation singles win in an World Intellectual Impairment Sport event in three years after he also won the men’s consolation at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games in Italy in 2011. Millar was presented with a gold medal for his efforts, while fellow Brit Shain Lewis won the bronze medal for finishing third in the consolation singles.

Lewis and Mellor came close to another medal in the men’s doubles, but were beaten 6-1 in the bronze medal play-off by Australia’s Damien Phillips and Zvi Schweitzer.

“I’m extremely proud of the whole team, having worked with them closely in the build-up to the World Intellectual Impairment Sport World Championships,” said Team Manager Lesley Whitehead. “All the boys have done superbly and have all played a big part in what has been a historic week for British tennis in World Intellectual Impairment Sport competition. Hopefully this is just the beginning of more success to come at this level of competition.”

Results of the event can be found here.