To mark the 1st Global ID Sport Day, World Intellectual Impairment Sport is proud to announce a partnership with WGT Sport as their preferred travel supplier.

As an international charity running more than 15 Championship competitions across the globe every year, World Intellectual Impairment Sport depends on reliable and efficient travel planning.

As a specialist partner of British Airways and with good contacts with other hotels and airlines, WGT Sport are able to source the most cost-effective travel options for World Intellectual Impairment Sport, our member organisations and athletes. They ensure that every trip is well-planned, meets our requirements and, should anything unexpected happen, are on hand to find a solution.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport and WGT Sport Ltd have worked together over the past year and we are delighted to formalise this partnership as preferred supplier for travel management. In addition, for every booking WGT Sport will make a donation to World Intellectual Impairment Sport.

Phillip Betts, Managing Director of WGT Sports said “I am very pleased that WGT Sport Ltd has become a preferred supplier of travel management for World Intellectual Impairment Sport. We are delighted to support athletes with an intellectual disability through our excellent service, as well as make a financial contribution to support their work”.

To make a booking with WGT Sport Ltd contact them quoting World Intellectual Impairment Sport02 on +44 845 50 50 175 or by email to [email protected] or visit their website www.wgtsport.org.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport – the International Federation for sport for para-athletes with an intellectual disability – has selected Brisbane, Australia to host the 5th World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games in 2019.

The Games – a week long championship featuring nine sports – will attract more than 1000 of the world’s elite athletes with an intellectual disability. The opening ceremony will take place on 19th October 2019.

AUSRAPID is the World Intellectual Impairment Sport member organisation responsible for the delivery of the Games.  Chief Executive, Robyn Smith was delighted to win the bid process “The Brisbane Global Games 2019 vision is to deliver a uniquely memorable and exciting celebration of sport and culture which focuses on ability. The event will create an atmosphere that inspires achievement, harmony and a sense of unity consistent with the Games vision.”

Amaury Russo, World Intellectual Impairment Sport President said of the bid “Brisbane Global Games 2019 aligns totally with the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Vision that athletes with an intellectual disability across the World have the opportunity to achieve excellence in sport and high-level competition.  The package planned by the local organising committee provides a great opportunity to create a long-term legacy by delivering an event that will have a positive social impact and reinforce the benefits of inclusive sport”

Greg Dunk, General Manager- Strategy and Corporate Affairs Life Stream Australia and member of the Games Bid Team stated “Brisbane is a beautiful city and boasts some of the best sporting facilities in the world, all within close proximity to the competition and training venues.  The Games will be a life-changing event for all athletes, officials, volunteers and spectators, and for communities across the Brisbane Region, Queensland and Australia.  It will bring people together in a secure, fun and friendly environment for a whole-of-Games experience and deliver a world-class sporting competition.”

Taking place just a year ahead of the Paralympic Games in 2020, it will be a fantastic opportunity for athletes aiming for qualification in Tokyo.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport will work closely with the local organising committee to ensure a transfer of knowledge and experience from the 2015 Global Games in Ecuador later this year.  It will be the first time as a region Oceania have hosted the Games and provides a real opportunity for engagement within the region to develop sport for athletes with an intellectual disability.

AUSRAPID works in partnership with many national and international sporting bodies and key peak agencies on a day to day basis to facilitate inclusiveness in sport for people with an intellectual disability.  This partnership approach has been presented as part of Brisbane Global Games 2019 integrating a sports development program to promote the long-term viability of the Global Games sports including $50,000 AUD to fund sports development initiatives and programs in the Oceania Region.

First Entry Information

Professor Jennifer Mactavish is to receive the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) 2015 Paralympic Scientific Award in recognition of the role she played in the re-inclusion of athletes with an intellectual impairment into the Paralympic programme.

The Canadian who is the Dean of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies at Ryerson University, Canada, will receive her honour at the VISTA 2015 Conference in Girona, Spain, which runs from 7-10 October.

The award is given biennially to an academic researcher for his or her contributions to research in the field of sports for persons with an impairment, and it serves to promote and encourage further study in this area.

Amaury Russo, President of World Intellectual Impairment Sport congratulated Professor Mactavish on her achievement “This announcement is the latest in a series of  awards given to the joint World Intellectual Impairment Sport-IPC working group and its members, in recognition of their work to re-include athletes with an intellectual impairment in Paralympic competition. It reinforces once again the importance of the collaboration, and recognises the personal contribution made by Jennifer and her colleagues in pursuit of fairness”.

“I am delighted and humbled to be the recipient of the 2015 Paralympic Scientific award,” said Professor Mactavish. “This tribute rightfully belongs to a dedicated community of academics, graduate students, coaches and sport federations from around the world, who have worked together over the years to address a complex question that unanswered would continue to exclude athletes with intellectual impairment from showcasing their talents at the highest level of sport.

“I am very proud of what we have accomplished, and particularly so for the athletes who can again dream of representing their countries as Paralympians!”

For the last 20 years, Professor Mactavish has been an expert in the field of persons and athletes with an intellectual impairment and spent 15 years spearheading the research to get athletes with an intellectual impairment re-introduced to the Paralympic programme.

Sir Philip Craven, IPC President, said: “I would like to congratulate Professor Mactavish who has spent her entire life in the pursuit of equal opportunities for all on winning this award. The reintroduction of intellectually impaired athletes back into the Paralympic Games was the outcome of a unique and excellent collaboration between sports governance and the scientific community.

“Professor Mactavish played a significant role in that reintroduction and every single athlete with an intellectual impairment who competed at London 2012 and who will line-up at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games should be thankful for her tremendous contribution.

“She is a worthy winner and I look forward to presenting her with the award at October’s VISTA 2015 conference in Girona.”