Sophia Warner’s Tribal Series launches paratriathlon events
Tribal Series, the mass-participation disability sport organisation established by Paralympian Sophia Warner, will launch four events in 2016, having registered interest from almost 2,000 people.
The company, which was started last year by Warner and sports hospitality firm Sportsworld, is beginning to take bookings for its run/wheelchair race (Para Run/Push), its swimming event (Para Swim) and its two paratriathlons (Para Tri) which will happen next year.
It follows Tribal Series’ inaugural Para Tri event which took place in August 2015, shortly after the company was established.
Around 300 participants took part in the Dorney Lake event, and Warner told Sports Management that more than 1,800 people had declared their interest in taking part in upcoming initiatives.
Three of the events – Para Swim, Para Run/Push and Para Tri South – will return to the Windsor lake where the Paralympic 2012 rowing took place, with the former two scheduled for 15 May. The latter will occur on 7 August.
The fourth event, Para Tri North, will take proceedings to Crosby Lakeside in Liverpool on 24 July, described as a “safe, flat and inspiring” venue by Warner, which she discovered after “copious amounts of site visits”.
Warner said the purpose of the company is to make sport accessible for the 12m disabled people living in the UK.
She took the idea to Sportsworld after discovering a “huge vacuum” for disabled people who wanted to take part in sport just for fun. While event operators are “great at letting disabled people get involved”, she said cut off times and safety issues created unintentional barriers.
“If you’re not an elite athlete, taking part is not as easy as people think,” she said.
Although she was initially cautious that some participants would feel “apprehensive” about taking part, the former UK Athletics commercial director said the first event fostered a humorous and fun atmosphere – the sensibilities she wanted to achieve when launching Tribal Series.
Participants pay a fee to take part, but Warner revealed that the vast majority of the company’s revenue comes through sponsorship activities.
Barclays partnered with Tribal Series for its first event, while the company already has two sponsors signed up for 2016: prosthetics and wheelchair manufacturer Ottobock – which was also a partner for Para Tri 2015 – and mobility aid company Quest88.
Warner, who competed in the London 2012 Paralympics, revealed that she was talking to “some big brands” about further sponsorship opportunities with announcements expected in the coming weeks.
The Tribal Series founder also outlined her desire to drive participation within communities, with 15 schools targeted, on top of an interactive social media campaign.
In a busy week for the organisation, Tribal Series collected two gongs from the EVCOM LIVE Awards last Friday (20 November) for its fledgling event. It picked up the Gold award for Sporting Event 2015 and Bronze for Outdoor Event 2015.
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