UKC

Gutted, the IFSC has removed 'mental health support' as a paraclimbing category this year. It's now not listed under the revised categories for the 2018 comps. 

Does anyone have any info about this or know how I can protest this decision? I was hoping to compete (I haven't before).

I don't know anything about this but a quick bit of reading tells me that the IFSC became a "recognised international federation" of the International Paralympic Committee last year. Every Paralympic sport writes its own rules for disability categories but they have to be based on ten types of disability defined by the Paralympic Committee, which doesn't include mental health. Perhaps that might be something to do with it?

Though I've also just looked at the IFSC rules going back to 2016 and can't see a reference to any kind of mental health category in any of them. The rules on paraclimbing categories don't appear to have changed very much, though I'm on my phone so I haven't actually compared them side by side, just skimmed through.

Cheers Luke, your response is useful thanks. I didn't look at 2016 but 2017 definitely included a category called 'mental health support'.

If it did, it's not referenced in the version of the rulebook that's posted on the IFSC website:

https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/images/World_competitions/Event_regulations/I...

I am 99.9% sure that the IFSC has never had a 'mental health support' category. (I am not specifically involved with Paraclimbing but have been the IFSC Technical Delegate at the last 4 Paraclimbing World Championships.)

The Climb Scotland Paraclimbing events in 2017 did include a mental health support category (as well as other categories that the IFSC do not allow). I do not know what Climb Scotland is planning for the Paraclimbing event at Ratho in September.

You are entirely correct!! I had seen the climb Scotland comp on the bmc & (poorly) assumed it was the same. Stupid error! Unfortunately I assume the climb Scotland comp at ratho in Sept is following ifsc rules, as it is that that inspired this post. I checked the categories before applying this morning & realised that wasn't a listed category. 

Thanks for your helpful response.