The European Paralympic Committee (EPC) Conference and General Assembly in Crete last week was the last in my reports to Regional PCs, which started with Asia in Kuala Lumpur last November, followed by Africa in Cairo in January this year, then Americas in Rio last month. [Apologies are extended to our antipodeans that I didn’t make it this time…maybe I’ll get down under in the next version of these Assemblies in 2009.]
The EPC Conference kicked off the first day with presentations from a number of organisations involved with the session theme ‘Youth Sports Development’ – a theme very close to our own hearts. IWBF Europe (Wheelchair Basketball) reported on initiatives they were taking in terms of coach/trainer development and the organisation of multi-country clinics followed by a competitive event to finish: some of these activities are funded by the EU.
The next speaker was in fact an official from the Youth and Sport Commission of the EU who explained how hard their working to minimise the administration involved for would-be funding applicants trying to get grants – currently they are often put off by too much bureaucracy. We also heard from the IPC about an EU funded project called Paralympic School Days, currently stimulating a lot of interest in member countries.
The next day the General Assembly started with some 24 members present – slightly disappointing for the biggest IPC region with over 50 NPCs. The isolation of Crete I suspect and the travel/costs may have inhibited some delegates. There was considerable discussion about European sport events and the difficulty getting organisers – it’s interesting that there is actually some advantage for the regions still at the ‘evolution’ stage, where they can hold multi-sport events rather than events for a single sport.
The main news was the voting for an office base for the EPC administration – the first in a region - with Vienna, Austria coming out the winner.
BOCOG, VANOC and LOCOG were next up to a very tired set of delegates. I offered them a) bad news in the form of lots of information and b) good news: entertainment. Sam Curling and I did a double act which I hope was as stimulating and as comic in part as Morecombe and Wise or French and Saunders. Well, maybe.
The delegates received our report well and our fantastic Paralympic Games pins even more enthusiastically.
Probably the most significant reaction was to our film about the new brand, showing the various people from diverse communities demonstrating ‘Everyone’s 2012’. They were very complimentary about what they saw as a high risk strategy to show the less glamorous side of city life, but one where creativity, ambition thrive and abound.
Too often I think in the daily buzz we take our own vision for granted – we need to constantly remind ourselves why we are doing what we do every day and be re-inspired. Having others inspired by what we’re doing always helps.
