Disability sport classification
Disability sports classification is a system that allows for fair competition between people with different types of disabilities.
Historically, the process has been overseen by 2 groups: specific disability type sport organizations that cover multiple sports, and specific sport organizations that cover multiple disability types including amputations, cerebral palsy, deafness, intellectual impairments, les autres and short stature, vision impairments, spinal cord injuries, and other disabilities not covered by these groups. Within specific disability types, some of the major organizations have been: CPISRA for cerebral palsy and head injuries, ISMWSF for spinal cord injuries, ISOD for orthopaedic conditions and amputees, INAS for people with intellectual disabilities, and IBSA for blind and vision impaired athletes.
Amputee sports classification is a disability specific sport classification used for disability sports to facilitate fair competition among people with different types of amputations. This classification was set up by International Sports Organization for the Disabled, and is currently managed by IWAS who ISOD merged with in 2005. Several sports have sport specific governing bodies managing classification for amputee sportspeople. The classes for ISOD's amputee sports classification system are A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8 and A9. The first four are for people with lower limb amputations. A5 through A8 are for people with upper limb amputations.
Cerebral palsy sport classification is a classification system used by sports that include people with cerebral palsy with different degrees of severity to compete fairly against each other and against others with different types of disabilities. In general, Cerebral Palsy-International Sports and Recreation Association serves as the body in charge of classification for cerebral palsy sport, though some sports have their own classification systems which apply to CP sportspeople. The classification system developed by the CP-ISRA includes eight classes: CP1, CP2, CP3, CP4, CP5, CP6, CP7 and CP8. These classes can be generally grouped into upper wheelchair, wheelchair and ambulatory classes. CP1 is the class for upper wheelchair, while CP2, CP3 and CP4 are general wheelchair classes. CP5, CP6, CP7 and CP8 are ambulatory classes.
The Les Autres class of disabilities generally covers two classes. These are people with short stature and people with impaired passive range of movement. The latter is sometimes referred to as PROM. There are a number of sports open to people who fit into Les Autres classes, though their eligibility often depends on if they have short stature or PROM. Historically, disability sports classification has not been open specifically to people with transplants, diabetics and epileptics. This is because disabilities need to be permanent in nature.
In the early years of disabled athletics, an athlete's medical condition was the only factor used to determine what class they competed in. For example, an athlete who had a spinal cord injury that resulted in lower limb paresis, would not compete in the same wheelchair race as an athlete with a double above-knee amputation. The fact that their disability caused the same impairment did not factor into classification determination, the only consideration was their medical diagnosis. It was not until views on disabled athletics shifted from just a form of rehabilitation to an end in itself, that the classification system changed from medical diagnosis to a focus on the functional abilities of the athlete. While there is no clear date when the shift occurred, a functional classification system became the norm for disabled athletic classification in the 1980s.
Functional classification for disability sports generally has three or four steps. The first step is generally a medical assessment. The second is generally a functional assessment. This may involve two parts: first observing sportspeople in training and then involving observing sportspeople in competition. There are a number of people involved in this process beyond the sportsperson including individual classifiers, medical classifiers, technical classifiers, a chief classifier, a head of classification, a classification panel and a classification committee.
Purpose
The purpose of classification in disability sport is to allow fair competition between people with different types of disabilities.The International Paralympic Committee sees its role in developing classification as contributing "to sporting excellence for all Athletes and sports in the Paralympics Movement, providing equitable competition". It sees the purpose of classification as "provid a structure for Competition. Classification is undertaken to ensure that an Athlete’s impairment is relevant to sport performance, and to ensure that the Athlete competes equitably with other Athletes." According to the IPC, the classification process serves two roles. The first is to determine who is eligible and the second is to group sportspeople for the purpose of competition. The eligibility minimum is an impairment that limits the sportsperson's ability to participate in an activity.
The purpose of disability sport classification is similar to selective classification used in some sports. Such selective criteria include sex, gender, age, weight or size. Selective classification is based on variables that are believed to be predictive of performance, with the goal of minimizing the effect of these variables on outcome even as there is a great range in terms of performance inside these classifications based on other variables. Classification for disability sport is generally not a performance based system where players are grouped based on skill level. These systems include different level leagues in association football and use of a handicap in golf.
History
1940s
at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital began experimenting with spinal cord injury sport classification systems during the 1940s using a medical based system.1950s
The classification for spinal cord injury related sports system was developed by International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation, with the first system having been created in 1952 by Ludwig Guttmann at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital. This system was published in the Handbook of Rules, which was distributed to people involved with paraplegic sport at the time including coaches, doctors and physiotherapists in various countries. At the time, this classification system was a medical classification. The early history of amputee sport had concurrent histories, with European and American amputee sports developing during the 1950s and 1960s largely independent of each other. In Europe, unilateral and bilateral lower limb amputees participated in sports using prosthetic limbs. In the United States, these types of amputees participated in wheelchair sports instead.1960s
was created in 1964, and created the first formalized system of classification to facilitate organized sporting competition between people with different types of amputations. There were originally 27 different classes of different types of amputations. This system proved untenable because of the large number of classes.1970s
During the 1970s, a debate began to take place in the physical disability sport community about the merits of a medical versus functional classification system. During this period, people had strong feelings both ways but few practical changes were made to existing classification systems.Adaptive rowing was taking place in France by 1971, with two classes of rowers initially participating: people with visual disabilities and people recovering from polio. People recovering from polio in France used boats with pontoons in order to increase their stability. Other changes were made to the boat with the development of a hinge-system to prevent rowers from tiring as easily. Blind rowers used the same boats during the 1970s and 1980s as their able-bodied counterparts but were guided on the course by a referee. Blind rowers were also encouraged to be in boats with sighted rowers, with the blind rowers serving as the stroke and the cox paying special attention to help the blinder rower. Classification was not something developed in France in this era as there was a focus on integrating rowers into the regular rowing community. In 1976, the total number of amputee classes was reduced to twelve ahead of the 1976 Paralympic Games.
Adaptive rowing in the Netherlands began in 1979 with the founding of Stichting Roeivalidatie. There was not an emphasis on classification early on, but rather in integrating adaptive rowing with regular rowing inside of rowing clubs. Attempts were then made to customise equipment to suit an individual rower's specific needs as they related to their disability.
1980s
Wheelchair basketball was the first disability sport to use a functional classification system instead of a medical classification system. Early experiments with this type of classification system in basketball began during the 1980s, with the first demonstration of the system used at the 1983 Gold Cup Championships. At the time, there were four classes for the sport. The competition demonstrated that ISMGF medical classifiers had issues with correctly placing players into classes that best represented their ability. The new system increased player confidence and reduced criticism of the classification system as it pertained to accusations that players had been incorrectly classified. The functional classification system used at the 1983 Gold Cup Championships was developed in Cologne based Horst Strokhkendl. This system is the one that has been used consistently in the international community since then. It was subsequently used at the 1984 World Games for the Disabled in England. The introduction of a functional classification system also meant that for the first time, amputee players could participate in the sport. Despite the system being in place in time for the 1984 and 1988 Summer Paralympics, a decision was made to delay its use at the Paralympic Games until 1992, where it was used for the first time. This was in part a result of conflict between broader ISMGF and the Wheelchair Basketball Subcommittee. The ISMGF was opposed in some measure to fully moving to a functional classification system for the sport. This conflict would not officially resolve itself until 1986, when the United States men and women threatened to boycott major tournaments unless the functional system was fully implemented.People with cerebral palsy were first included at the Paralympic Games in 1980 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. While four classes were in existence at the time, only the two highest functioning classes were included on the program. The four classes were defined around coordination, types of cerebral palsy and functional abilities.
Originally part of a broader organization, CP-ISRA became an independent organization in 1981. National level cerebral palsy and cerebral palsy sport organizations were recognized at the same time. In 1982, the classification system was expanded from four classes to eight classes. It included four ambulatory classes and four wheelchair classes, and used a functional classification system. In 1983, classification for cerebral palsy competitors was undertaken by the CP-ISRA for a variety of sports including boccia and athletics. The classification was based upon the system designed for field athletics events but used in a wider variety of sports including archery and boccia. The system was originally designed with five classifications. The system was designed after consulting medical experts from two other international sport organizations, ISOD and ICPS. They defined cerebral palsy as a non-progressive brain legion that results in impairment. People with cerebral palsy or non-progressive brain damage were eligible for classification by them. The organisation also dealt with classification for people with similar impairments. For their classification system, people with spina bifida were not eligible unless they had medical evidence of loco-motor dysfunction. People with cerebral palsy and epilepsy were eligible provided the condition did not interfere with their ability to compete. People who had strokes were eligible for classification following medical clearance. Competitors with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and arthrogryposis were not eligible for classification by CP-ISRA, but were eligible for classification by International Sports Organisation for the Disabled for the Games of Les Autres. At the 1984 Summer Paralympics, the first cerebral palsy only sports were added to the program with the inclusion of CP football and boccia.
During the 1980s, there was a move away from a medical classification system to a functional one, with ISMWSF being one of the organizations driving this change on the wheelchair sport side. Some wheelchair sports saw the introduction of sport specific classification systems during this period, including wheelchair fencing, with the IWF Classification system being implemented for the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul. It had first been used at the European Championships in Glasgow 1987, and was small changes were made to this system before its use at the 1988 Games.