Sitting volleyball classification

Sitting volleyball classification is the classification system for sitting volleyball. Only people with lower leg paralysis or lower leg extremity amputations are eligible to compete. The sport is governed by the World Organization Volleyball for the Disabled.

Definition

The 1998 USA Paralympic men's sitting volleyball team

Sitting volleyball allows for multiple classifications but players effectively play in one class, with eligibility for the sport limited to people with lower leg paralysis or lower leg extremity amputations.[1] This sport has rules that were designed specifically for people with disabilities in mind.[2] Classifications for this sport are based on functional mobility.[3] In total there are three types of classification, whereby only two are eligible to play at international competitions. They are, Disabled (D class), Minimally Disabled (MD), and Abled-Bodied (AB), where the latter is ineligible to play.[4]

Governance

The sport is governed by the World Organization Volleyball for the Disabled.[5]

Eligibility

People with physical disabilities are eligible to compete in this sport.[6] In competitions that are non-sanctioned, such as national cup and league matches, people without disabilities may compete.[4]

Process

At the 1996 Summer Paralympics, on the spot classification required that classifiers have access to medical equipment like Snellen charts, reflex hammers, and goniometers to properly classify competitors.[7]

For Australian competitors in this sport, the sport is not supported by the Australian Paralympic Committee.[8] There are three types of classification available for Australian competitors: Provisional, national and international. The first is for club level competitions, the second for state and national competitions, and the third for international competitions.[9]

At the Paralympic Games

At the 1992 Summer Paralympics, two types of volleyball were played including sitting and amputee, with classification being run through ISOD.[10] At the 2000 Summer Paralympics, 26 assessments were conducted at the Games. This resulted in 1 class change.[11]

Future

Going forward, disability sport's major classification body, the International Paralympic Committee, is working on improving classification to be more of an evidence-based system as opposed to a performance-based system so as not to punish elite athletes whose performance makes them appear in a higher class alongside competitors who train less.[12]

References

  1. Vernon Lin, MD, PhD; Christopher Bono, MD; Diana Cardenas, MD, MHA; Frederick Frost, MD, Laurie Lindblom, MD, Margaret Hammond, MD, Inder Parkash, Stevens Stiens, MD, MS, Robert Woolsey, MD (19 March 2010). Spinal Cord Medicine: Principles & Practice. Demos Medical Publishing. p. 810. ISBN 978-1-933864-19-8. Retrieved 21 August 2012. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)
  2. Robert C. Schenck (1999). Athletic Training and Sports Medicine. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 818. ISBN 978-0-89203-172-6. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  3. Jan Broekhoff (June 1986). The 1984 Olympic Scientific Congress proceedings: Eugene, Ore., 19-26 July 1984 : (also: OSC proceedings). Human Kinetics Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87322-006-4. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 Ng, Kwok (2012). When Sitting is Not Resting: Sitting Volleyball. Bloomington, IL: Authorhouse. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-4772-1789-4.
  5. Ian Brittain (4 August 2009). The Paralympic Games Explained. Taylor & Francis. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-415-47658-4. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  6. "Layman’s Guide to Paralympic Classification" (PDF). Bonn, Germany: International Paralympic Committee. p. 13. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  7. Doll-Tepper, Gudrun; Kröner, Michael; Sonnenschein, Werner; International Paralympic Committee, Sport Science Committee (2001). "Organisation and Administration of the Classification Process for the Paralympics". New Horizons in sport for athletes with a disability : proceedings of the International VISTA '99 Conference, Cologne, Germany, 28 August-1 September 1999 1. Oxford (UK): Meyer & Meyer Sport. pp. 379–392. ISBN 1841260363. OCLC 48404898.
  8. "Summer Sports". Homebush Bay, New South Wales: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  9. "What is Classification?". Sydney, Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  10. DePauw, Karen P; Gavron, Susan J (1995). Disability and sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. p. 128. ISBN 0873228480. OCLC 31710003.
  11. Cashman, Richard I; Darcy, Simon; University of Technology, Sydney. Australian Centre for Olympic Studies (2008). Benchmark games : the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. Petersham, N.S.W.: Walla Walla Press in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Olympic Studies University of Technology, Sydney. p. 152.
  12. "Classification History". Bonn, Germany: International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 30 July 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sitting volleyball.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 31, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.