Formation 1952, 2005 | Website www.iwasf.com | |
Motto Inspire Worldwide Achievements in Sport Type International sport federation Headquarters Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom | ||
The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) is an international sports organisation that governs sports for athletes with physical impairments.
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IWAS is a registered charity with its headquarters located at Aylesbury College in, Buckinghamshire. and is the international governing body for the Paralympic sport of wheelchair fencing as well as the developing sport of Powerchair Hockey. IWAS provides support to developing sports and nations to cultivate the sporting opportunities available across the world.
IWAS acts as a multi-sport competition organiser in the form of the IWAS World Games and IWAS Under 23 World Games. The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) World Games programme are multi-sport competitions for athletes with a physical impairments, which under the former name of the International Stoke Mandeville Games were the forerunner of the Paralympic Games. Following the vision of its creator and founder, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, IWAS has continued to provide its 65+ international Members with competition and sporting opportunities to physically impaired athletes in maintaining its vision to "Inspire Worldwide Achievements in Sport".
History
IWAS was formed in 2005 following a merger of the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation (ISMWSF) (which was formerly known as the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF)) and the International Sports Federation of the Disabled (ISOD). ISOD had been founded by the International War Veterans Association in 1964.
IWAS World Games Programme
The IWAS Games are held annually in different nations around the world and host hundreds of athletes competing in a differing range of in sports including Athletics, Swimming, Table Tennis, Wheelchair Fencing, Para Taekwondo and Archery. The Games offer the athletes of the 65+ IWAS Member Nations international competition opportunities in promotion of the Paralympic movement. IWAS remains a vital mechanism in the Paralympic movement through its international pathway from grassroot sport to elite Paralympic inclusion.