ASHCROFT Louise – CAN (PVPA)
Official post held:
World ParaVolley Medical Director 2016-present
Louise started with WOVD/WPV in Regina, Saskatchewan, at the WOVD Standing World Cup in 2005 as a volunteer organizer of the Medical services for the Event. She was asked if she wanted to attend a classifier workshop and realised it was a good fit for her skills and passion for volleyball – a sport she has been involved with as an athlete and medical professional for over 40 years. She bought a plane ticket to the World Championships in Roermond the following year at the invitation of Jenni Cole to finish classification training.
All her WPV classifier colleagues have supported and challenged her thinking about classification. Major contributors to her development have been Barry Couzner, Denis Le Breuilly and Toralv Thorkildsen – who listen and act, and believe in what they do in the medical department, and inspire her every time they meet
Event involvement:
2005 Trainee – Classification & Chief Therapist World Cup for Disabled Standing Volleyball, Regina, CANADA
2006 International Classifier Trainee – World Championships, Roermond, NED
2010 International Classifier – World Championships, Oklahoma USA
2014 International Classifier – World Championships, Elblag POL
2015 International Classifier – ParaPanam Games, Toronto CAN
2016 International Classifier – Paralympic Games, Rio, BRA
2017 Chief Classifier – PVE European Championships, Porec, CRO (and provisional classification of all athletes for new 2018 rules)
2018 International Classifier – Asian ParaGames – Jakarta, IND
2019 International Classifier and L1 instructor – PVE Zonal Championships – Budapest, HUN
2019 International Classifier and L1 instructor – PVAO Zonal Championships – Bangkok, THA
2019 International Classifier – PVA Zonal Championships, Kigali, RWA
2019 International Classifier – ParaPanam Games, Lima, PER
2020 International Classifier – Final womens PLG Qualifier, Halifax, CAN
2021 International Classifier & COVID-19 liaison officer – Paralympic Games, Tokyo JAP
2021 Chief Classifier – PVE Zonal Championships, Kemer, TUR
2017 & 2019 WPV Representative for IF Classification Meetings with IPC
2017 WPV Representative for WADA Anti-Doping Conference
2021 & 2022 Tutor for Online L1 Classification Courses in July/August 2021 and Feb/Mar 2022
In summary, her involvement to the present time has been and is in a number of fields:
Classification since 2006, Anti-Doping since 2015, Administration (Governance) since 2016 and Research since 2020; involving working as a classifier educator, managing the Classification Rule Review Process (2016-18) and as Medical Director ensuring that World ParaVolley remains Code Compliant with the IPC Classification Code and the WADA Anti-Doping Code.
Awards received:
Canadian Physiotherapy Association – Medal of Distinction 2021
World ParaVolley Recognition Award 2020