Inclusivity at ITF Officials Advantage All conference at Paralympics
ITF President and UN HeForShe Ambassador David Haggerty introduced an ITF Advantage All Gender, Diversity and Inclusion conference at the Paralympics at Roland Garros on Thursday 5 September, where 130 officials from 39 different countries came together to hear more about how the programme and Paralympic legacy plans.
As part of his opening remarks, Haggerty said: “The Advantage All programme focuses on improving gender equality in tennis, and we are pleased to have been able to provide an even gender spread of officials across the Olympics and Paralympics Games.
“Advantage All is also designed to improve inclusion as a whole across our sport, and it’s great to hear from Paris 2024 and the IPC about how they are building a legacy for these fantastic Games. I hope everyone in attendance can take some of these examples and learnings and use them to help drive inclusion in their own communities.”
Ludivine Munos, Head of Paralympic Games Integration, reflected on the accessibility of the Games and the years of preparation that went into to making it an unforgettable experience for fans and athletes.
Munos, a 12-time Paralympic swimming medallist, said: “For me, this is the first level. Now I hope that for the next Paralympic Games we are able to continue improving. We are very proud that in each venue people can go anywhere regardless of their disability, and the Village is very popular with athletes. During the Games, we push the philosophy of inclusion with schools and children’s clubs to make sure the next generation continues to capitalise on the legacy of the Games.”
The theme of legacy was adopted by Romain Riboud, a former para-alpine skier and double Winter Paralympic silver medallist.
Riboud described a number of Paris 2024 campaigns designed to capitalise on the success of the Paralympics to drive participation. Such campaigns include the Mini Club initiative which involved over 500 schools. The programme includes a series of Paralympian school visits, chances to try and practice Para sport, and bringing children from participating schools to watch Paralympic events.
He also outlined how the Paris 2024 Endowment Fund has invested over 50m in support for schools and organisations running projects that use sport as a social enabler.
One such project is Para Golf , which aims to open up golf to people with disabilities, working with specialised organisations to highlight benefits of sport to disabled children.
Over 500 children have benefited over three years, with 14 regional leagues signed up to deliver the programme.
Luca Laugero and Thea Finke, Paris 2024 Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event ITF Officials and organisers of the event, gave their thoughts as it concluded.
Laugero said: “I want to thank all our wonderful officials who have attended the session, and all our speakers for sharing their knowledge and ideas. It has been great to learn more about the legacy of the Paralympic Games.”
Finke added: “Events like this are essential to make sure we continue the progress that has been made in making tennis fully inclusive across all areas of the sport. I hope my fellow officials have found the session as interesting and inspiring as I have, and I look forward to transferring some of the learning about inclusion into my role.”