Quick Pole Sports History

How long has pole been a sport?

• Pole as a fitness form was created in 2003.
• Over the next 5 years small competitions in different regions and countries began taking place. The competitions had few rules and basic scoring and judging criteria.
• The International Pole Sports Federation (IPSF) was created in by Tim Trautman and KT Coates in 2008 after a petition was created in 2006 to gage interest within the pole community to create a sport from pole. Now the IPSF is overseen by KT Coates (president), Kate Whitley (vice-president) and a team of committee members.
• Over the last 5 years the IPSF has developed a sport and federation from scratch by creating, rules, regulations, scoring systems, policies, health and safety, equipment standards, judges training, 30 national championships, a world championships and now a coaching and judging framework.
• In 2012 the first World Pole Sports Championships took place with 45 athletes and only 5 men. In 2015 over 2,500 athletes competed in 26 countries to qualify for the World championships with a growing number of men and children now making up the athlete numbers.
• A sport can be considered a sport if it has a structure, frame work, transparency and a fair way to compare one athlete against another. With this in mind pole has been an official sport for 5 years...
• To become a recognised sport a federation must meet the SportAccord application criteria which are currently impossible for new sports to meet, as each sport must have 40 national federations recognised by an international federation recognised by SportAccord. New sports such as Pole Sports cannot achieve this as our federations cannot be recognised. The IPSF is currently lobbying for change to the application process.
  

What is the Short Term goal of Pole Sports?

The short term goal of the IPSF is to promote pole as a sport, develop coaching and judging programmes to improve the level of the athletes, judges and the recreational enthusiast as well as become a recognised international sport.

What is the long term goal of poles sports?

The long term goal of the IPSF is to take part in international sporting event such as the World Games and the Olympic Games.

How do we intend to achieve the goals?

In five years the IPSF has created one of the world fastest growing sports. With further promotion and development through training, coaching and technological advancement the IPSF is achieving recognition as a reputable form of sport with a great deal of potential. The speed at which pole sports is growing reflects that goals that seemed impossible before are within pole sports reach. In 2012 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) requested a report to be done on pole sports and its potential for development. Our sport is being watched for growth and potential.

Is there an Olympic possibility?

Anything is possible with the changes that are going on in the IOC to modernise. The IPSF's goal is 2020 - 2024 inclusion into the Olympic Games and with the growth and development; mixed with the entertainment value of our beautiful sport we know it won't be long....