Minister Griffin to Open 2017 HPX Conference

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin TD, will officially open the 2017 High Performance Exchange (HPX) Conference which gets underway in the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena tomorrow.

The HPX Conference is run by the Sport Ireland Institute and Sport Ireland Coaching, and will bring together some of the world’s leaders in the area of High Performance Sport where the focus will be on “Lessons Learned from High Performance Sport: The 2020 Evolution”.

Speaking about the conference, Minister Griffin said: “I am really looking forward to opening the 2017 HPX Conference which takes place in the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena over the next two days. The conference will bring together some of the world’s leading lights in the area of high performance sport, and will be an invaluable learning experience for Ireland’s coaches, performance directors and athletes as we look towards Tokyo 2020. I would like to welcome all the delegates and speakers attending from overseas and I look forward to an enjoyable and insightful two days.”

Included among the speakers at the HPX Conference are All-Ireland winning Dublin Football Manager Jim Gavin, 2016 World Boxing Coach of the Year Billy Walsh, Irish Rugby Coach Joe Schmidt, former Tipperary Manager Liam Sheedy, Irish racewalker and World Championship Gold Medalist Olive Loughnane and Paralympian and Cross Bench Peer Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson.

Sport Ireland Chairman, Kieran Mulvey, said: “We are delighted that 400 delegates from 11 countries will be in attendance at the HPX Conference. It is fitting that the conference is taking place in the new Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena, the jewel in the crown of the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus which is the epicentre for high performance sport in Ireland. The conference offers attendees and excellent opportunity to network and share information in the most fitting of settings.”

Looking forward to the conference, Chief Executive of Sport Ireland, John Treacy said:  “Sport Ireland is looking forward to welcoming some of the best high performance sports professionals to the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena for the HPX Conference. 2017 has been an excellent year so far for Irish sports on the international stage, and events such as this will help strengthen the Irish high performance system as we continue on the road to Tokyo 2020.”

2017 marks a new level of ambition for the HPX Conference, where over 40 speakers from 11 countries will share their key lessons learned across a range of key human performance domains. The Conference aims to showcase some of the key lessons identified by top athletes, coaches, science professionals and performance leaders during the Rio 2016 cycle, and to explore the role of talent development in shaping the future of high performance sport.

The 2017 HPX Conference at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena is supported by RTة Sport, Fلilte Ireland and Meet in Ireland.