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IDBF\u2019s Para Athletes Commission is responsible to IDBF for the development of rules and recommendations regarding Paradragon racing. The Para Athletes Commission was established in 2017 with the expectation it would help develop an environment that would encourage greater participation of Para Athletes (Paradragons) in the sport of dragon boating.<\/p>\n
\u200bThe Commission was aware that Paradragon involvement was already quite widespread but there was no agreed way for athletes living with different kinds of impairment to compete fairly against each other. Local events tried to implement some rules around participation, but these varied considerably and, anyway, IDBF had nothing it could rely upon for its own competitions.<\/p>\n
\u200bThe Commission therefore decided that:<\/p>\n
The second point was fundamental in shaping the current rules. Many sports restrict participation to only those who live with specific impairments \u2013 in other words they are \u2018exclusive\u2019 \u2013 and then only provide for athletes with similar impairments to compete against each other. Dragon boating wants to be \u2018inclusive\u2019 and the large number of paddlers in a boat meant that a way had to be found both to encourage inclusion while keeping things fair for all involved.<\/p>\n
\u200bFurthermore, the Commission recognised the possible difficulties some teams might have in fielding a Paradragon crew that conformed also to the various age and gender racing classes (Junior, Senior, Womens, Mixed etc) and decided that all Paradragon racing would therefore be \u2018open\u2019 but with allowances for age and gender.<\/p>\n
\u200bWith this as the foundation for the rules, the Commission embarked on developing something that had not been done anywhere else in international sport \u2013 develop rules for racing that would provide for a mix of impairments, ages and genders to race fairly against each other.<\/p>\n
\u200bClearly, the nature of a person\u2019s impairment would be the most important factor in these Paradragon rules and how that impairment would affect the ability of the athlete to contribute to the performance of the dragon boat. The Commission decided that it would assess impairments on a sliding scale of 0 to 20 \u2018points\u2019 where 20 points would be awarded to a fully unimpaired paddler and progressively lower numbers of points awarded as the impact of the impact became ever more significant.<\/p>\n
Impairments can affect athletic performance, but to very different degrees depending on the activity being undertaken. For example, a visually impaired person may struggle to play tennis but could excel at weightlifting or tug-of-war. The Commission was firm in its belief that the effect of any impairments is sport-specific, and it had to assess those effects only in the context of paddling a dragon boat.<\/p>\n
\u200bFor dragon boat paddling, those with a missing upper limb (or complete loss of use of an upper limb) are probably the most disadvantaged. Very close in terms of impairment are those with spinal impairment as they do not have the trunk function and stability of those without such impairments. Those living with sensory impairments and some psychological conditions tend to be able to paddle effectively and powerfully and therefore are at the other end of the disadvantage spectrum.<\/p>\n
\u200bOnce the athlete\u2019s impairment had been \u2018scored\u2019 attention would then turn to age and gender.<\/p>\n
\u200bIn general (accepting there will always be exceptions):<\/p>\n
The impairment score would then be adjusted, as necessary, with allowances for age and gender.<\/p>\n
\u200bThe \u2018scoring\u2019 for impairments and the adjustments for age and gender are set out in detail in the published Rules for Paradragon Racing; examples of how the scoring works in practice are also provided.<\/p>\n
\u200bIn July 2018, less than a year after the work had started, IDBF adopted the Commission\u2019s draft rules based on the above approach! The rules were published both as a discussion document but also to encourage trial use in real competition. In 2019, the European Dragon Boat Federation (EDBF) used the draft rules for the Paradragon races in its European Club Crew Championships in Seville. The feedback from EDBF was completely positive.<\/p>\n
\u200bIn September 2020 IDBF\u2019s Rules for Paradragon Racing were first formally adopted as a component of IDBF\u2019s race rules.<\/p>\n
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Background to IDBF’s Rules for Paradragon Racing IDBF\u2019s Para Athletes Commission is responsible to IDBF for the development of rules and recommendations regarding Paradragon racing. The Para Athletes Commission was established in 2017 with the expectation it would help develop an environment that would encourage greater participation of Para Athletes (Paradragons) in the sport of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3008,"parent":2732,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2731","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n