Durban first African city to host sports forum
DURBAN will become the first African host city for a prestigious global sports event to be held next month.
The 10th International Forum on Elite Sport is held every two years by the Association of Sport Performance Centres, an international grouping of Olympic training centres and high-performance sports organisations.
The opportunity was granted after the Prime Human Performance Institute submitted a bid in 2015, with the KZN Department of Sport and Recreation, SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, and ethekwini Municipality, to host the forum.
Durban was announced the winner, beating Barcelona, Spain, and Helsinki in Finland. The cost has yet to be disclosed.
It was seen as major triumph for South African sport, and for Durban. The event was first held in Sydney, Australia 16 years ago.
ethekwini mayor Zandile Gumede welcomed the initiative and expressed pride that Durban would be the first city in Africa to host this prestigious international forum.
“As we strive to place our city as Africa’s sports and events capital, such conferences only prove that we are more than capable of successfully hosting international events of high stature,” she said.
Gumede said she had no doubt that this conference would be a great opportunity for local athletes to learn and exchange ideas with other international experts in various fields of sport, sports medicine and recreation.
Brendon Goodenough, who chairs the Durban Forum Local Organising committee, said the forum would help local coaches, athletes and administrators with access to international conference and networking with sports leaders.
“An essential component of developing podium athletes is the development of podium coaches and podium administrators,” said Goodenough.
The theme for the forum is “sustainable performance” and some of the current leaders in high performance sport will be addressing 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 (cricket), Amanda Dlamini (football), Shaun Pollock (cricket), Dr Patho Cele-zondi (sports and exercise medicine) and Doug Ryder (cycling).
International speakers will include sports scientists from FC Barcelona, High Performance Sport New Zealand and the International Olympic Committee, members of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Committee, the upcoming Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and Tokyo 2020 Olympics organising committees.
More than 10 targeted workshops will cover topics ranging from coaching development to women in sport and talent identification.