The Learning Hub is World Para Powerlifting's learning management system that acts as a key part of the Learning Strategy by centralising all learning opportunities in the sport.

All Certification Courses, continued professional development opportunities, and other activities are organised and delivered in some capacity through the Learning Hub by administering participants’ profiles, facilitating registrations, managing communications, completion and monitoring of activities and evaluations, as well as issuing of certificates.

History

Through it's past, World Para Powerlifting has delivered learning opportunities around the world.

In 2019, leading up to the Nur-Sultan 2019 World Championships and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Refresh Courses were delivered to Technical Official to ensure the consistent interpretation and application of the Technical Rules and Regulations among all Levels of Technical Officials. Technical Officials discussed attitudes and philosophies for officiating Para powerlifting competitions, participated in scenarios on the various competition processes, and completed video assessments of athletes’ lifts. This evolved into a pilot of this course online.

Coinciding with this, World Para Powerlifting launched the Lift Educational Video Database (LiftED) free for all stakeholders. At every major competition, World Para Powerlifting films the lifts of each athlete from multiple technical angles. After uploading it to the educational channel, the video is tagged with searchable keywords such as the athlete’s name, country, bodyweight and lift decision. LiftED features over six thousand lifts filmed from technical angles at major competitions and is freely accessible by all Para powerlifting stakeholders.

In 2020, with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the evolution of learning opportunities in the sport was expedited. The Learning Hub was launched first with the Technical Official Hub, a “community of practice” for certified Technical Officials for continued professional development, exchange of knowledge, and ongoing communications. Activities available on the Hub such as “Judge the Lift” supported the Technical Officials in having a consistent interpretation of the Technical Rules and Regulations, while the “Discussion Forum” is helping answer different questions. By the year’s end, over 500 Technical Officials accessed the Hub with over 200,000 page views.

With the continued impact of the coronavirus pandemic, World Para Powerlifting continued to innovate to deliver opportunities, including hosting a Webinar Series, hosted by world-leading experts and researchers on diverse topics and in different languages.

In 2022, the Learning Hub in its current iteration was launched, continuing to offer quality learning opportunities and connecting the Para Powerlifting community! All Instructor-led Certification Courses were adapted to be delivered in a blended format; numerous self-study Mini-Courses were created to offer open and interesting content to stakeholders; "communities of practice" for Technical Officials and Classifiers continue with ongoing professional development activities and programmes towards major competitions, including the World Championships and Paralympic Games, directly impacting and improving confidence, performance, and competency.

Impact

The Learning Hub has impacted thousands of participants from over 130 countries, across all regions.

Development Programmes

"She Can Lift": Women in Para Powerlifting Programme

Launched in 2019 through support of the Agitos Foundation to improve the gender equity in the sport, the "She Can Lift" programme impacts women in a number of ways. Since its launch, targeted certification courses for women have been ran for coaches, classifiers and technical officials. In addition, an online conference was ran in 2021 and 2022, coinciding with International Women's Day.

In 2021, World Para Powerlifting and “She Can Lift” was recognised by the International Paralympic Committee as the winner of their International Women’s Day Recognition Award in the international federation category.

World Para Powerlifting prioritises participation of women in courses. After registering for a Certification Course, please contact World Para Powerlifting for more information.

"Life After Lifting": Retired Athlete Transition Programme

Launched in 2020 to encourage and promote retired athletes to stay involved in the sport as coaches, classifiers and technical officials, the "Life After Lifting" programme has impacted a number of athletes.

World Para Powerlifting prioritises participation of retired athletes in courses. After registering for a Certification Course, please contact World Para Powerlifting for more information.

Types of Courses

Mini-Courses

To complement the Certification Programmes and curriculum-based Courses, World Para Powerlifting offers various continued professional development opportunities to certified stakeholders and in some cases to the wider community.

Subjects of these activities are identified based on the experiences of Certification Course participants, using the feedback from surveys and Instructors, primarily addressing topics where knowledge gaps exist in the community and wider learning landscape, and which are important on the sustainability and promotion of the sport.

These continued professional development opportunities are provided online through the Learning Hub by webinars and activities (“Mini-Courses”), which are “bite-size” topics of facilitated information followed by checking of understanding and knowledge. These can vary in duration depending on the size and complexity of the subject.

  • Mini-Courses do not have a start or end date but are continuously open; complete at your own pace and on your own schedule.
  • Generally, Mini-Courses do not have a registration cost.
  • To register in a Mini-Course, simply click the Mini-Course name then the "enrol me" button.
  • Mini-Courses offer badges that will be awarded at the completion of the Mini-Course.

Certification Courses

Certification Programmes for Coaches, Classifiers and Technical Officials are structured through specific Pathways. The Pathway has four (4) stages of development in which participants develop their skills and expertise within the courses and over time through experience. The structure and nature of each course builds upon its predecessor. Read more about each role's Certification Pathways and Courses.

  • Level 3/2/1 Certification Courses do have a start and end date and are led by an Instructor with deadlines for each activity or evaluation.
    • Level 4 Certification Courses are the exception as they are self-study; they do not have a start or end date but are continuously open; complete at your own pace and on your own schedule with no registration cost.
  • Generally, Certification Courses do have a registration cost.
  • Certification Courses are delivered online or in-person.
  • To register in a Certification, view the schedule and register via the registration moduley.
  • Certification Courses offer a Certificate that will be awarded at the completion of the Certification Course.

Contact

To contact World Para Powerlifting, please complete the Contact Form with your information and message; a member of the staff will respond and support.

Commitment to Accessibility

World Para Powerlifting and the Learning Hub are committed to giving participants with disabilities the same opportunity to access content and courses in the same place and in a similar way as other participants.

World Para Powerlifting continually strives to maintain and further improve the accessibility of the Learning Hub to ensure the best possible experience for all participants.

World Para Powerlifting makes reasonable modifications for any known disability that may interfere with participation in a programme, activity or courses on the Learning Hub. If an assistive device, person or other accommodation is needed to participate in any part of the Learning Hub, please contact World Para Powerlifting or the specific Certification Course Instructor.