[5][6][7][8] In 2009, Katie Coates and Tim Trautman formed the IPSF to promote pole as a sport.
[16][18] The United States, for example, has a national federation under the IPSF called the American Pole League.
[19] National federations send their top competitors to the World Pole Championships hosted by the IPSF.
[20] In 2012, the IPSF began the annual World Pole Championships where men, women, and youth athletes compete.
[9][23][24][11][25] Their efforts to do so have generated international media attention for pole sports, the IPSF and its founders.
Para pole "has been developed in line with Paralympic criteria to now include three categories, muscle, limb and sight deficiency."