Vision

Where We Are Headed

Para Standing Tennis has already proven that a sport can grow from nothing into a global movement in just a few years. The next chapter is about consolidation: transforming that momentum into institutional recognition, scientific credibility, and a permanent place within the Paralympic family.

Our vision is to build the foundations that make that future possible — not through advocacy alone, but through rigorous research, transparent methodology, and the kind of evidence that international bodies require before extending formal recognition to a sport and its classification system.

Fair Competition as a Non-Negotiable

At the heart of this vision is a simple commitment: every athlete who steps onto a Para Standing Tennis court deserves to compete in a category that truly reflects their functional profile. Classification built on subjective observation or historical convention is not classification — it is approximation.

We are here to replace approximation with evidence. The research project led by Politecnico di Torino is designed to produce a classification framework that is objective, reproducible, and scalable — one that works today in Turin and tomorrow in any country where the sport takes root.

The Road to Paralympic Recognition

Full inclusion in the Paralympic Games is the sport’s defining long-term goal. Achieving it requires more than athletic excellence — it requires a classification system that satisfies the rigorous standards of the International Paralympic Committee. That system does not yet exist for Para Standing Tennis. Building it is the purpose of this research.

Every dataset collected, every biomechanical test completed, and every AI model trained is a step toward the moment when Para Standing Tennis stands alongside the world’s most recognised Paralympic disciplines — not as an emerging sport asking for attention, but as a discipline that has done the scientific work to earn its place.

Sport as a Force for Inclusion

Beyond recognition, our vision is shaped by a broader belief: that sport is one of the most powerful levers for social inclusion and personal empowerment. The Sport Hub ecosystem — supported by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center — is built on exactly this principle.

Para Standing Tennis embodies it. Every athlete who competes, every researcher who analyses their movement, and every institution that lends its support is contributing to a future where adaptive sport is not a parallel world, but a central part of how we understand what sport can be.