ALT Action shot during a game between Canada and Spain's national women's teams at the 2022 Dubai World Championships. Text reads: CANADA FINISHES 5TH AND 6TH AT THE 2022 DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. After defeating Australia 64-62, Canada's Senior Women's Team brings home fifth place from the 2022 Dubai Wheelchair Basketball World Championships. Additionally, Canada's Senior Men's team brings home sixth place after a tough game against Italy. theechoproject.org.

ALT Why do talent transfers happen in paralympic sport? What is a talent transfer? A formalized process designed to facilitate the movement of skilled athletes from one sport to another (Collins et al., 2014) Clipart of para soccer athlete kicking a ball. 3 arrows extend from the athlete pointing to reasons why talent transfers occur: 1) alternative to retirement 2) career extensions 3) compatibility Read the full article: Dehghansai, N., Mazhar, A., & Baker, J. (2023). Coach and Athlete Perspectives on Talent Transfer in Paralympic Sport, Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 40(2), 280-302. Retrieved Jun 8, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1123/apaq.2022-0002

ALT Try wheelchair basketball with vipers basketball. June 11th 2023 at the Haber Recreation Centre from 2:30 PM to 5 PM. Interested? Register via email at info@vipersbasketball.ca. Clipart of cartoon youth playing wheelchair basketball. Image of Vipers Basketball logo.

ALT Niagara Parasport Festival. What is it? Join Parasport Niagara at the Parasport Festival, a FREE two-day community sport and recreation event featuring keynote presentations, educational workshops, a Community Expo, Activity Challenges, Meet and Greet Receptions, a Sports Demo Arena, and more! When is it? May 31st to June 1st from Meridian Community Centre, Fonthill. Photograph of 2019 festival's sitting volleyball demonstration.

ALT What are the para sport development experiences of para swimmers and parents? Sales & Misener (2021) identified 5 themes in their research that are important insights for supporting para swimmer development and the design of a para athlete-specific development framework. Theme 1: Fundamental Skill development: Specialized programs that provide one-on-one instruction from instructors trained in adapting the lessons to the swimmers’ individual needs was deemed to be optimal Theme 2: Personal Connection: Individualized attention and personal invitations to join were key to early experiences in swimming participation Theme 3: Coaching: Coaches with the appropriate targeted knowledge and skills to adapt workouts for para athletes were very important

ALT What are the para sport development experiences of para swimmers and parents? Theme 4: Classification: Classification is perceived as playing a key role in the development of a para swimmer, but there is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the processes and outcomes of classification Theme 5: Connecting with others "like me": Being in an accepting training environment and receiving social support from others was something participants looked for but not all received Share your thoughts in the comments or at theechoproject.org. Read more at: Sales, D., & Misener, L. (2021). Para Sport Development Experiences: Perspectives of Para Swimmers and Parents, Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 38(4), 643-660. Retrieved May 16, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1123/apaq.2021-0024

ALT A Case Study of a Parasport Coach and a Life of Learning. What are the lifelong learnings of a parasport coach and how does coaching practice evolve throughout one's career? 1st bubble: icon of a head and lighbulb. Text: "The coach enhanced practice by drawing from personal experiences and values" 2nd bubble: icon of 3 people and a gear. Text: "The coach sought out mentorship relationships with health, sport, and academic figures to navigate and learn about the parasport context" 3rd bubble: icon of graduation cap. Text: "Coach educators are recommended to engage with student volunteers to facilitate early exposure to parasport coaching and provision of appropriate learning support " Icon of coach blowing a whistle and holding a clipboard. Full article: Taylor, S. L., Werthner, P., & Culver, D. (2014). A Case Study of a Parasport Coach and a Life of Learning, International Sport Coaching Journal, 1(3), 127-138. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2013-0005

ALT Sport Surrey, City of Surrey Wins BC Tourism Award for Access & Inclusion. This award recognizes an individual, organization or consortium operating in British Columbia that has made a significant contribution toward creating inclusive and welcoming experiences for everyone. Surrey BC won this award for leading the way in creating accessible and inclusive communities. More information can be found here: surrey.ca/about-surrey/accessibility. Photograph of staff and children in wheelchairs on the basketball court.

ALT Map of the Para Triathlon course. Text reads: "Paris 2024 Para Triathlon Course Unveiled. Paris 2024 has released the course for the Para triathlon events for the upcoming Paralympic Games! With the 2024 games are now less than 500 days away, venues and routes are now being confirmed to the public. This course will allow athletes to tour monuments such as the Seine, Le Grand Palais, Le Petit Palais, and l’Assemblée nationale."

ALT Title: "Lack of sensitivity on paralympics' tiktok?". Screenshot of Paralympics tiktok inside of a phone screen. 3 Speech bubbles surrounding the phone. 1st bubble reads quote by Brad Snyder, six-time paralympic gold medal winner: "I'm glad the IPC is doing something what I would categorize as innovative as far as social media, following trends or engaging in a means by which they can reach a broader audience, specifically a younger audience". 2nd bubble reads quote by Imani Barbarin, writer and advocate with cerebral palsy: "They keep trying to make the existing content they already have fit trending audios but those audios don’t always fit. Not only that, but if you use certain audios with disabled people, the context changes almost entirely". 3rd bubble reads quote by Sean Jackson, England amputee soccer player, "Anything that they’ve used I think it’s just used to try and make fun of what disabled athletes have to do to participate in the sports that they love".

ALT Clipart of 3 hands raised in front of a heart. Volunteer attitudes towards disability. Paradis, Misener, McPherson, McGillivray & Legg (2017) investigated volunteer’s perceptions of attitudes towards disability at the 2014 Commonwealth Games (where parasport was integrated with the able-bodied sport) and the 2015 Pan Am/ParaPan American Games (where parasport was separated from the able-bodied sport). The study found: Both events had an impact on volunteer awareness levels of disability and accessibility-related issues, as well as positively impacting attitudes towards persons with disability Integrated events appeared to impact attitudes to a greater degree than the non-integrated events The event itself and not the training may have impacted awareness and attitudes Work cited: Kyle F. Paradis, Laura J. Misener, Gayle McPherson, David McGillivray & David Legg (2017) Examining the impact of integrated and non-integrated parasport events on volunteer attitudes towards disability, Sport

ALT 2023 ParaVolley PanAmerica Zonal Championship. The ParaVolley PanAmerica Zonal Championship taking place from May 9 to 13, 2023 in Edmonton, Alberta will be a sitting volleyball Paris 2024 Paralympic qualifier and an expected five women’s national teams and seven men’s teams will compete for one Paralympic berth per gender. Learn more: https://volleyball.ca/en/competitions/2023-paravolley-panamerica-zonal-championship. Action shot of sitting volleyball player hitting the ball.

ALT Athletics Ontario logo. Title: 2023 Becoming Para Ready Symposium. Speech bubble: This is an event designed specifically for coaches and club administrators looking to expand the reach and inclusivity of their Athletics program through interacting, supporting, and engaging with Para athletes. When? April 15-16, 2023. Where? Toronto Track and Field Centre. More information on the athletics ontario website. Image of event campaign material that reads "becoming para ready" with cllipart of 3 para-athletes.

ALT Since 2017, the ParaTough Cup has raised more than $1.4 million for Parasport in Canada! This past week the ParaTough Cup returned to Toronto after a 3 year absence. The primary fundraiser of the Paralympic Foundation of Canada raised $119,000. 16 teams, each committing to raising $5000, competed in a weekend of Para sports including: sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and Para ice hockey. During the course of the event, 10 Para athletes were on site, speaking with participants and enjoying the festivities. ParaTough Cup logo.

ALT In loving memory of Arley Cruthers. Photograph of Arley Cruthers. It is with great sadness to learn that Arley Cruthers, one of the featured speakers on the Project Echo Deep Dive Discussion series, passed away suddenly last week. Arley was a Canadian Paralympic wheelchair basketball player, applied communications professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and disability advocate. As a driving force for inclusion and accessibility, Arley will always be remembered as a champion for equity. Her work has played an integral role in the disability studies space, and her legacy will be carried through the work of her family, friends, colleagues, and students.

ALT Title: "Canadian Para-Athletes Look Forward to Stronger Pathways for Athlete Development at Their Canadian Universities". Image of Erica Gavel holding a basketball net with bubble reading "Erica Gavel: Team Canada's Wheelchair Basketball Team". Text reads: "I feel as Canadians we really pride ourselves on being inclusive," said Gavel, who competed first as an able-bodied basketball player at the University of Saskatchewan, and after seriously damaging her knee, as a Paralympian. Opportunities to support high-level parasport are few and far between in Canada. While many Canadian universities support para-athletes, Gavel notes she had to advocate for the same care and resources that other athletes receive. Comparatively, the board of directors for the Pac-12 Conference recently approved a new policy to support student-athletes who train to compete at the Paralympic Games or other elite Para athletic competitions."

ALT ParaSport Pathways event. Brock-Niagara Centre of Excellence in Inclusive and Adaptive Physical Activity (CAPA), ParaSport Ontario, and Variety Village (Toronto) hosts the Parasport Pathways event where students will learn from ParaSport community experts about accessibility and inclusion in sport, recreation and physical activity for people of all ages and abilities. Quote from the Professor of Kinesiology Maureen Connolly, Director of the CAPA Research Centre in Brock’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: “The students, our next generation of professionals, will be experiencing inclusion in ways that make it a part of everyday life — not something extraordinary — an attitude they can bring into their lives as teachers, practitioners and leaders".

ALT Clipart of question mark. Text reads: What are parents experiences of supporting their child's parasport journeys? Coates & Howe (2023) interviewed 11 parents about their experiences in supporting their child's parasport journey. Some findings include: - Engaging in parasport as a parent has challenges and benefits - Parents shared values relating to equality and inclusion - Social exclusion in mainstream education directed youth with disabilities towards sport - Challenges in finding local disability-specific sport opportunities and funding Citation: Janine Coates & P. David Howe (2023) Parents in the parasport pathway: Parental experiences of facilitating their child’s engagement in competitive disability sport, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/10413200.2023.2181464

ALT Santiago 2023: Parapan American Games. The 7th edition of the Parapan American Games will take place for the first time in a South American Country (Santiago, Chile), with 41 countries participating across 18 Paralympic sport disciplines. Image of sport calendar schedule from paralympic.ca/santiago-2023.