Athletes Without Limits is looking for talented table tennis players with intellectual disability to represent the US at upcoming national and international events.
As the US member of INAS-FID, Athletes Without Limits offers opportunities for US table tennis players to compete at the highest levels in their sport. International competitions are already being organized by INAS-FID and are run according to standard ITTF rules. Just like in Olympic competition, there are no separate categories by ability level—the top competitors win Gold, Silver and Bronze in each event.
Qualified athletes may be able to travel to international competitions with the US delegation and there are new opportunities for Paralympic competition now that a class for intellectual disability has been added to Table Tennis for the London 2012 Paralympics and other IPC/ITTF events.
Athletes must meet the INAS-FID eligibility requirements and complete the eligibility application to be considered. Please review eligibility guidelines and contact us if you know of any athletes who may be interested in competing in or aspiring to compete in national and international elite level competition. We look forward to meeting you!
2010 Table Tennis Events
- 5th INAS-FID World Table Tennis Championships
2010 Date TBD: Poland
- USA Table Tennis Nationals
December 2010 Date TBD: Las Vegas, NV
- 2009 INAS-FID Global Games
July 4-15, 2009: Liberec, Czech Republic
The next Global Games will be in 2013
International: INAS-FID Table Tennis
The International Federation for Sport for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) offers world championship level table tennis events for athletes with intellectual disability. INAS-FID competitors are an elite group of athletes from around the world making great achievements in table tennis. (Watch a video from the 2009 Global Games in the Czech Republic). We look forward to seeing world ranked US players in years to come!
Interested US athletes should work with Athletes Without Limits to complete the athlete eligibility process in order to compete in INAS-FID swimming events. Athletes Without Limits will organize trips to INAS-FID swim events based on athlete interest. Please contact us for more information.
Athletes Without Limits will organize a trips to INAS-FID table tennis events based on athlete interest. Interested athletes must work with Athletes Without Limits, the US Member of INAS-FID, to become INAS-FID registered prior to competing in any INAS-FID table tennis event.
All INAS-FID table tennis players are held according to the rules of and officiated by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and INAS-FID. As with all INAS-FID competitions, only the top athletes in each event win; there are no separate divisions by ability level as in Special Olympic events.
Paralympic/ITTF Table Tennis
Following the November 2009 vote to re-include athletes with intellectual disability into Paralympic competition, table tennis is likely to be one of the inclusive sports. US players with intellectual disability may have the opportunity to qualify to represent the US at the London 2012 Games. More information will be posted as it becomes available, however the IPC has stated that meeting INAS-FID eligibility criteria is the first step toward Paralympic classification.
National: Table Tennis Opportunities in the US
Athletes Without Limits supports the identification and development of US table tennis players with intellectual disability—please contact us if you are interested in learning more about table tennis opportunities in the US.
The USA Table Tennis website provides a list of table tennis clubs by area and will include a class for athletes with intellectual disability at the 2010 US National Championships in December.
