INSTITUTE Irish Institute of Sport opens 2008 with major conference on elite sport
200 delegates will gather in Croke Park on Friday (Jan 11th) for the inaugural high performance conference hosted by the Irish Institute of Sport. It is aimed at performance directors, coaches and service providers currently working with elite athletes, players and squads.
The Institute has invited a mix of national and international speakers who are recognised as world leaders in their field. Many of the assembled speakers will be heard for the first time in Ireland at this conference. The topics addressed will include coaching, sports science, sports medicine and anti-doping.
In addition the Conference will be an opportunity for the Institute to set out its existing and new programme for work in 2008. This will include and be informed by, new research carried out for the Institute by a team led by Dr Aidan Moran of UCD. This research seeks to uncover the barriers that athletes have had to overcome during their sport careers and will be used to underpin the development of services at the Institute to ensure that potential medal winners have the best possible opportunities of achieving success on the international stage.
Sean Kelly, Executive Chairman of the Irish Institute of Sport commented; “The Conference brings together world class contributors, all leading experts in their areas, and they will interact with the key agencies and individuals in elite Irish sport. It will be a fascinating and productive two days which opens an exciting and busy year for the Institute”.
“New Horizons in Elite Irish Sport” takes place in Croke Park on January 11 & 12.
It is organized by the Irish Institute of Sport, supported by the Irish Sports Council.
Further information from Sinead McElroy, 01-8608804 or 087-6338512 smcelroy@irishsportscouncil.ie
Selected Speakers Biographies
Dr Richard Charlesworth, World Renowned Coach.
Sharing his innovative coaching techniques with audiences world wide, he is a much sought after consultant and writer on sport and performance. Dr Charlesworth is from Perth, Australia a medical doctor. He is a former captain of the Australian Hockey Team and State Cricket. He was coach to the Australian Ladies Hockey the number one ranked team in the world for 8 years and provided coaching support to the Australian Institute of Sport and the Freemantle Dockers Football, Club.
Dr Ben Levine, Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre at Dallas.
He is widely known for his work on his “living high-training low, method of altitude training” for which he was awarded by the US Olympic Committee and has been nominated for the International Olympic Committee.
Chelsea Warr, Performance Consultant- Lead in World Class Talent ID, Confirmation and Olympic Development, UK Sport
She was involved in the 90’s in the establishment of Australia’s first National TID and Olympic Development Programmes designed to support the systematic detection and fast –tracking talent towards Sydney 2000. A number of World and Olympic Champions came through this programme. She is currently working with UK Sport Performance Directorate.
Dr Jill Cook, Associate Professor of Musculosketal Health, Deakin University, Australia.
Trained as a physiotherapist she set up her own sports medicine practice in 1986 and worked with National women’s junior and senior programmes for basketball. This culminated with Olympic Games representation with the Australian Women’s team at two Olympics. She has worked with athletes with tendon injuries and having competed her PhD she combined her academic interest with a part-time clinical career.
Dr Mike Stroud, OBE, is an expert on human health under extreme conditions. He has partnered Ranulph Fiennes on polar expeditions and has studied human endurance under extreme conditions based on personal experience- running marathons in the Sahara and trekking across polar ice.
Prof. Tim Noakes, Professor of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Cape Town.
A frequent marathon runner, he co-founded the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. He undertook a series of pioneering experiments in the Artic and Antarctic to understand the full range of human capability in extreme cold.
Dr Sanjay Sharma, Director of Heart muscle diseases and inherited diseases at Kings Cross Hospital
He is medical director of the Flora London Marathon and cardiologist for the British Lawn Tennis Association and the Cry Sport Cardiology centres at the Olympic Medical Institute. He has a special interest and international reputation in heart muscle diseases and sudden adult death syndrome.