At the 2021 IFAPA General Assembly on the 16th June 2021, during 24th ISAPA, the newly formed group that replaced the student representative, known as New Emerging Scholars of Adapted Physical Activity (NESAPA).

NESAPA will have its own committee to build on a community of practice and support to develop newly emerging scholars. 

NESAPA comprises of students (undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students), early career scholars (researchers and lecturers in the field of APA &/ APE within 7 years of their terminal degree, typically PhD), and practitioners (teachers of Adapted Physical Activity (APA) & Adapted Physical Education (APE) who have worked in the field for no more than 10 years). Researchers who have completed their doctoral degree more than seven years ago can be considered for special reasons such as parental leave, serious illness, and similar delays (e.g., military service). NESAPA consists of a chair who is the representative to the IFAPA board, vice-chair and members. NESAPA is constituted within the IFAPA by-laws as a recognised group to the IFAPA board of directors.

The purpose of NESAPA is to promote collaboration, support, encourage the work and research in the field of APA, and build relationships between early career and expert professionals.

NESAPA’s objectives are:

  • To represent new emerging specialists of adapted physical activity at IFAPA board of directors
  • To facilitate knowledge sharing among emerging specialists of IFAPA members
  • To identify and develop key skills for NESAPA members (e.g., grant writing, networking, career development, etc) through regular meetings and events
  • To enable informal mentoring for NESAPA members through connections with more experienced leaders in their field 
  • To serve as a platform for NESAPA members to share their research
  • To organize networking events at major international symposiums, conferences (e.g., ISAPA, EUCAPA, etc.)
  • To circulate information about events, grants and funding opportunities, job vacancies, career training, or any other information that may be relevant to students, practitioners, APA/APE teachers and emerging scholars of 
  • To organize IFAPA’s NESAPA Event biennial during ISAPA.