ICSSPE News
No.48
September 2006
 
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ICSSPE Meetings in Berlin
August 30 – September 1, 2006
Christophe Mailliet

 

For the second time since the beginning of Prof. Dr. Gudrun Doll-Tepper terms as ICSSPE President, ICSSPE representatives gathered in Berlin for a series of meetings that culminated with the 22nd General Assembly on September 1st, 2006. Of course the Executive Board had already met in Berlin in 1997, however since then many changes have taken place within the organisation, thus it was the right time both to look back on what has been achieved, and to look forward to what remains to be done. The "Dimensions of Performance" Symposium on "Talent Identification and Performance", that was again organised in cooperation with the DKB-ISTAF, one of the IAAF's Golden League's meetings, rounded off the meetings on September 2nd, and some participants even took the opportunity to attend the ISTAF on the following day.
The meetings were kicked off by the President's Committee and Editorial Board meetings on August 30th, at the ICSSPE Executive Office. The Office has a meeting room for up to 40 people available, and it was a good opportunity for the ICSSPE Officers to finally "put a place to a name". Holding the meetings at the Executive Office greatly facilitated our work, since technical support was made easy and we were playing "on our turf". The President's Committee, as it is usual, worked very efficiently towards preparing the following meetings, and much of the time spent was dedicated to the planned registration of ICSSPE as a NGO in Berlin, and to the preparations for the 2008 International Convention on Science, Education, and Medicine in Sport (2008 ICSEMIS) in Guangzhou, August 1-5, 2008. The Editorial Board had again a very dense and productive meeting, the purpose of which mainly was to update itself since its last meeting in May. However, progress was noted in a number of items, which should result in a number of new ICSSPE publications very soon.
On August 31, the International Committee of Sport Pedagogy (ICSP) conducted its annual meeting at the ICSSPE Executive Office, and again the agenda was very tight and a number of important topics had to be discussed. The main point consisted of the discussion of a follow-up strategy to the 2nd World Summit on Physical Education that took place in Magglingen in December 2005. The ICSP came up with a strategic working plan that looked into monitoring, evaluation, and research; sharing good practice in physical education; developing influence and advocacy strategies for organisations; and the development of core principles and criteria for physical education. The cornerstone was thus laid for an effective development of this area that is in need of support world-wide, and all participants agreed that this was an important step for this group. Each of its member organisations now has defined tasks, and it is expected that there will be exciting news to report at the next meeting. The afternoon of that same day was dedicated to the 8th meeting of the Associations' Board, again with a very tight agenda and a number of important issues to deal with. This body, as the "think tank" of ICSSPE, indeed has an important role to play in designing ICSSPE's strategy for the future, and is at the same time a unique forum, where colleagues from different scientific disciplines can meet and discuss the broader issues in the field. The meeting, however, was opened by a minute of silence for two dear colleagues who passed away this year; Mr. Alain Poncet, former President of the International Association of Sport Information (IASI), and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Palm, former President of the Trim and Fitness International Sport for All Association (TAFISA). The meeting then went on very well, most notably with the formal acceptance of Special Olympics as a new member, a very useful discussion on the development of the Working Programme of ICSSPE within the three areas of Quality Physical Education, Healthy Living across the Lifespan, and Ethics and Professionalisation, as well as updates on various projects such as the book on the history of the Paralympic Movement. A reorganisation of the ICSSPE Awards was also discussed, as well as upcoming events such as the 50th Anniversary of ICSSPE in 2008. The largest part of the meeting was devoted to the discussion of plans for the 2008 ICSEMIS, resulting in a list of tasks for the Associations, so that these can take full advantage of the opportunities that are offered. After this long day of meetings, the members were pleased to enjoy a very nice evening together at one of the many trendy restaurant situated in the new centre of Berlin, a city which has undergone tremendous changes since the reunification of Germany in 1990, and is now definitely one of the cities in Europe that everyone should have visited at least once!
The 67th meeting of the Executive Board, that took place on September 1st, saw the group move to another location, namely the headquarters of the Berlin Sports Confederation, who graciously hosted representatives from all over the world in their building located very close by the historical Olympic Stadium of Berlin. Here again, a number of important issues linked to the management of ICSSPE's operations were discussed, and it was no minor challenge to explain the fine details of Germany's legislation regarding NGOs to the members. However, the Board agreed that ICSSPE should be registered in Germany for a variety of reasons, and the rest of the meeting was then spent discussing membership issues, financial matters, as well as patronage and subvention requests from members, among many other things. The upcoming elections were also prepared, and a readjustment of ICSSPE's regional groupings was also accepted. Finally, the main meeting began on the afternoon of September 1st, namely the 22nd General Assembly of ICSSPE. Several items that were already discussed in the previous meetings came up again for presentation to the Assembly, discussion and ratification. The Assembly agreed to modify the ICSSPE Statutes, so that ICSSPE can formally be registered in Germany, and also ratified new memberships, adopted the various reports that were presented (including the financial reports), adopted the budgets for 2007 and 2008, and last but not least, elected or re-elected several new members to the Executive Board: Prof. Dr. Lateef Amusa, Prof. Dr. Michael McNamee, Prof. Walter Mengisen, Prof. Dr. Rutkowska-Kucharska, and Prof. Dr. John Saunders. Welcome (back) to all! After this meeting finally was over too, members and officers were treated to an exceptional evening hosted by the Government of Berlin and the Berlin Sports Confederation. A special lounge at the Olympic Stadium of Berlin was the location for a fantastic evening with excellent food and drinks, and this was again the occasion to publicly thank the German authorities for the exceptional support granted to ICSSPE over the years. The evening ended with an almost surreal show, namely the first World Fireworks Championships that took place on the premises of the Olympic Stadium. Everyone was in awe at the sight and one participant summed his feelings up by saying: "This is not of this world". This feeling was shared by all those who were fortunate enough to be there. Of course now, a much more down-to-earth process has begun, which consists of implementing all that has been decided during these very, very busy days, here in Berlin. We at the ICSSPE Office certainly enjoyed having so many members here as our guests, and we look forward to our next meeting.

Christophe Mailliet
Executive Director ICSSPE





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