Paralympic boost for T&T
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com By Kwame Laurence kwame.laurence@trinidadexpress.com
"To Enable Paralympic Athletes to Achieve Sporting Excellence and Inspire and Excite the World".
This is the vision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). And yesterday, local stakeholders took part in a workshop, at Cascadia Hotel in St Anns, aimed at widening Trinidad and Tobago's participation in Paralympic sport.
The T&T Paralympic Committee (TTPC) became a member of the IPC in November last year. The local governing body is still in its fledgling stage, and the goal of having a large pool of elite Paralympic athletes will not be achieved in the short term. There is hope, though, of creating an impact at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the meantime, T&T can look forward to representation at the 2012 Paralympics in London, England, through the IPC Universality Wild Card (UWC) system. T&T is expected to receive two wild cards.
At yesterday's workshop, IPC's chief operating officer Georg Schlachtenberger spoke about the role of national Paralympic committees (NPCs).
"Support sport activities for people with an impairment and create pathways [for] athletes from the grassroots to the elite level in cooperation with the national sports organisations (NSOs). The NPC does not have the expertise. The expertise is with the NSOs. Work together. Coordinate this."
Tyrone Marcus, senior legal officer in the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, addressed the need for NSOs to make adjustments to their constitutions to include Paralympic arms.
And at the end of the workshop, TTPC president Michael Fraser challenged the NSOs.
"The reason why the NSOs are so important is because we have the passion for disability, but you have the passion for the sport. That's why you're here today. What Paralympics is going to add to your NSO is another dimension in the sport, where you can proudly say that as an NSO you are truly a national sporting organisation, and not just a sporting organisation for a certain sector of people. So until you guys have a Paralympic arm, you are not worthy of the N in NSO.
"A lot of you," Fraser continued, "would have athletes who would have acquired a disability through performing sport. Some of the most successful Paralympians are those people who made the transition from able-bodied sports to the Paralympics. You might have an athlete who gets injured and can't perform in the sport again, in the context of able-bodied sport, but there are still opportunities for those athletes to participate at the highest level if they choose to. Our challenge is to ensure that opportunities exist."
Among the local para athletes who attended yesterday's workshop was swimmer Shanntol Ince, who represented T&T at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.
In addition to Schlachtenberger, Marcus and Fraser, presentations were made by Ken McKell, chairman of the TTPC's Annual General Meeting & Compliance Steering Committee; T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) secretary general Brian Lewis; Special Olympics T&T chairperson Norma James; the Sport Company's executive manager, facilities, Ashton Wharwood; and occupational therapist Priya Gomes.
In her vote of thanks, TTPC administrative manager Deborah McKell promised Schlachtenberger T&T will become the Paralympic "sporting mecca of the Caribbean".