KZN to host prestigious sport forum

DURBAN will become the first African host venue for the prestigious International Forum on Elite Sport in August, which will bring together some of the leaders in sporting thought from around the world.

This year will mark the 10th edition of the International Forum on Elite Sport, which is held every two years by the Association of Sport Performance Centers (ASPC), an international grouping of Olympic training centres and high performance sports organisations. Prime Human Performance Institute, which is a member of the ASPC, submitted a bid, together with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport and Recreation, SASCOC and eThekwini Municipality, to host the 10th Forum in Durban in 2015. Durban was announced the winner, beating Barcelona and Helsinki for the rights to host the event.

“An essential component of developing podium athletes is the development of podium coaches and podium administrators. The Forum will assist with this, giving our local coaches, athletes and administrators access to this international conference and an international network of sports leaders,” said Brendon Goodenough, Chairman of the Durban Forum local organising committee.

The theme for the Forum is Sustainable Performance and some of the current leaders in high performance sport will address issues around this topic to ensure that athlete development is both sustainable and cost effective.

The Forum has secured a number of world class speakers from across the globe, including a number of South Africa’s most influential sporting personalities, coaches and trainers. The programme includes addresses from Gary Kirsten, Amanda Dlamini, Shaun Pollock, Dr Patho Cele-Zondi and Doug Ryder, among others.

International speakers include sports scientists from FC Barcelona, High Performance Sport New Zealand and the International Olympic Committee, as well as members of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games committee and the upcoming Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and Tokyo 2020 Olympics organising committees.

Over 10 targeted workshops will cover topics ranging from Coaching Development to Women in Sport and Talent Identification.

“In the constantly evolving world we are always looking at ways of ensuring that South Africa is part of the bigger global picture in the quest for sporting excellence, As economies the world over feel the pinch, this, the 10th International Forum on Elite Sport is just one way of doing exactly that. There’s no doubt that this event is going to filter all the way down through South African sport and issues like athletes’ development should duly benefit from the robust and intense sharing of global sporting knowledge and expertise,” Gideon Sam, SASCOC President commented.

eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede welcomed the initiative and expressed pride in the fact that eThekwini would be the first city in Africa to host the prestigious 10th International Forum on Elite Sport.

“As we strive to place our City as Africa’s sports and events capital, such conferences only prove that we are more than capable to successfully host international events of high stature,” she said.