The Agitos Foundation will work in Cuba ahead of the Games in São Paulo ©IPC

The latest Agitos Foundation project will begin in Havana this weekend, supporting athletes and coaches preparing for the 2017 Parapan American Youth Games in São Paulo.

The Foundation - the development arm of the International Paralympic Committee - will work in Cuba's capital from March 26 to 28.

Thirty swimming and athletics coaches and young athletes from Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, St Vincent and the Grenadines, El Salvador, Aruba and Puerto Rico will receive expert training from Cuban experts.

Georg Schlachtenberger, Director of the Agitos Foundation, said: “We are delighted to introduce this latest series of workshops and begin to support the next generation of athletes earlier on in their careers than ever before.

“With the support of the Americas Paralympic Committee, the National Paralympic Committee of Cuba and the German Federal Foreign Office we can begin to improve the knowledge and conditions required for athletes to achieve their absolute best.

"We are delighted to receive support from the German Federal Foreign Office for the first time and that will allow us to promote the development of Para-sports in emerging nations or regions.

“Our main aim is increase participation across the Caribbean region - at the last Parapan Youth Games in 2013, only five athletes from three Caribbean countries competed.

“We believe there is a huge amount of untapped talent which we can help to develop, increasing the depth and quality of the field for the benefit of Para-sport all around the world.”

The Agitos Foundation has held similar events ahead of other Games
The Agitos Foundation has held similar events ahead of other Games ©IPC

Similar "road to the Games" events were held in the build-up to the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games and the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

The initiative will also include the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.

In Havana there will be theoretical and practical sessions for athletes, who will all be aged under 18.

Athletes will join sessions on the Paralympic Movement, introducing them to their roles as ambassadors for Para-sport worldwide.

They will also be equipped with the skills to train and compete healthily and ethically.

Coaches will then be given practical and theoretical training in techniques that aim at improving the young athletes’ performance from the very beginning of their careers.

These workshops will be followed by practical sessions on all three days.

Athletes and coaches will learn training techniques, and athletes will be tested to discover the areas of performance where they can improve.