"VAN" (Sports Desk - 19.10.2026) :: NPC leaders from five nations benefitted from expertise provided by Paralympics Australia With the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games on the horizon, Paralympics Australia in partnership with the Oceania Paralympic Committee hosted 24 delegates from five Oceania National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in coaching, leadership and classification strategy courses at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Canberra.
The four-days long “Oceania Mentoring Hub” brought together participants from the NPCs of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. The participants represented current and future leaders, coaches and classifiers from each of their NPCs. The workshop was held in parallel with the Para Futures Cup, a multi-sport event designed to strengthen Para sport development across the region. This provided a perfect opportunity for Mentoring Hub participants to also engage with the Para Futures Cup competitions as part of their workshop programme.
Delivered by Paralympics Australia in partnership with the Oceania Paralympic Committee and the Australian Institute of Sport, the Mentoring Hub initiative forms part of the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) Sport for Mobility programme.
As part of its commitment to strengthening Para sport worldwide, the IPC provides grants to leading NPCs or Regional Organisations to host Mentoring Hubs so they can share their expertise with emerging Paralympic nations to accelerate their development.
Taking place at world class facilities, the Mentoring Hubs serve as a platform for knowledge exchange, skills development and collaboration, empowering athletes, coaches and administrators to strengthen Para sport programmes in their home countries.
Grant Mizens, President of Paralympics Australia said: “With support we receive from the Australian Government, we are proud to work alongside the IPC and our valued partners at the Oceania Paralympic Committee to create more opportunities for Para sport to grow across our region.
“The Oceania Mentoring Hub was a wonderful example of the impact we can make by strengthening leadership, coaching and classification, building sustainable pathways for athletes and creating more opportunities for people with disability to engage meaningfully in Para sport.
“With Brisbane 2032 on the horizon, we have a significant opportunity and responsibility to help grow Para sport throughout Oceania. We want to see the benefits of a home Paralympic Games extend beyond Australia, leaving a lasting legacy for our region and supporting more nations to develop their athletes, programmes and pathways to the Paralympic Games.”
Paul Bird, President of the Oceania Paralympic Committee, said: “The Oceania Mentoring Hub initiative in partnership with Paralympics Australia proved to be an outstanding opportunity for our five participating NPCs and their nominees to build their leadership, coaching and classification knowledge and expertise through the workshops presented by Paralympics Australia and Australian Institute of Sport staff. We were excited to see that a cohort of potential classifiers from each NPC has now been identified, and we look forward to supporting their journey on their classification pathway to strengthen our classifier cohort in the Pacific.”
For the NPCs of Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu, the Hub was particularly important as they are also part of another Sport for Mobility initiative, the IPC Development Model. Their attendance at the Mentoring Hub further contributed to their capacity to implement the IPC Development Model and to strengthen their partnerships with their National Federations and Regional networks to build their Para athlete programmes and pathways leading into Brisbane 2032.
Participant Joave Vivian Nainoca who has already benefitted from Local Leader training as part of the IPC Development Model on behalf of NPC Fiji said: “Events such as this are a real big opportunity for us - it helps with collaboration and alignment. When we are here altogether, where the whole of Oceania is represented, it allows us to network and it allows us to also see the gaps that are there. Having workshops such as this really helps lift how we prepare our athletes so that we can get a greater representation in events such as the Paralympic Games.
“The opportunity of Brisbane 2032 is huge. When we have this representation within the island countries to be part of the Paralympic Games it really helps ensure a shift in the mindset of the people within the islands. Persons with disabilities aren’t really regarded to be able to do a lot and so when they represent their country at Games such as the Paralympics it helps lift the profile, lifts the belief that anything is possible.”
Jacklynda Molidu who made history as the first Para athlete from Vanuatu to compete at the BWF Para Badminton World Championships also serves as the Athlete Development Officer for NPC Vanuatu. Of the Mentoring Hub she said: “For me it was the first time to attend a workshop like this. It helps me to learn more and understand more about how we can classify an athlete and develop athletes.
“This Hub has helped me understand how we are going to go and find athletes to take part in our Hub & Spoke programme.”
Courtesy of a grant agreement with the Toyota Mobility Foundation, the IPC Sport for Mobility programme has been designed to offer tailored and targeted initiatives that meet IPC member organisations where they are. Launched in 2025, 14 customised initiatives are advancing Para sport globally, benefiting all IPC member organisations.
Since Sport for Mobility’s launch in 2025, three Mentoring Hubs have taken place benefitting nearly 100 Para athletes from 18 NPCs.
In Kuala Lumpur, NPC Malaysia hosted 25 representatives from the NPCs of Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar and Timor Leste. Participants took part in a competition management course and a best practice workshop to develop a national classification strategy.
A Para athletics training camp was held in Rabat, with NPC Morocco sharing their knowledge with 24 athletes and coaches from the NPCs of Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Senegal.
In the Americas, 59 representatives from the NPCs of Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala and Paraguay participated in a joint Mentoring Hub led by the Americas Paralympic Committee and NPC Brazil. The focus was on the sports of Para athletics, boccia and Para swimming.
This month, NPC Rwanda will stage a Mentoring Hub benefitting six African NPCs focused on Para athletics.
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