Foreword
No.48
September 2006
 
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President's Message

An important collaborative step was taken this summer between the different fields of sports, education and science when the International Paralympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee, the International Federation of Sports Medicine and ICSSPE agreed to merge their congresses into the new International Convention of Science, Education and Medicine in Sport (ICSEMIS). This new multidisciplinary event will replace previous conferences that were organised by the four stakeholders and be a new umbrella for the many facets of sport, science and education. The inaugural event, organised in cooperation with our Chinese partners, will be held 1-5 August 2008 in Guangzhou, China. The 2008 ICSSPE General Assembly will be held prior to this date, also in Guangzhou. If you are planning to hold your statutory meetings or scientific symposiums in conjunction with ICSEMIS, please inform the ICSSPE Executive Office as soon as possible and be sure to mark these dates in your calendar.
Berlin, which for the past 10 years has played host to the ICSSPE Executive Office, is an exciting place for sport. This has been even more evident this summer with the FIFA World Cup Final rounding off a four week celebration of football for hundreds of thousands of guests from all over the world. At the same time, ICSSPE member streetfootballworld hosted the world championships in streetfootball. Jürgen Griesbeck, Manager of streetfootballworld impressed many of us with his energy and patience in making this idea become a reality. Watching the young athletes play with self-defined rules and without referees was an excellent example of respect and friendship for many of us. The Special Olympics National Games, which were held in the third week of September, offered a chance for more than 2000 athletes to compete in 15 disciplines and qualify for the World Games in Shanghai. Soon afterwards, the Berlin marathon, with almost 40000 participants and ranked as one of five World Marathon Majors, took place in the city. In between all of this excitement, the ICSSPE family met in Berlin for its annual board meetings and the General Assembly. Despite the many technical advances in communication over long distances, it is always very special to meet representatives of ICSSPE member organisations and institutes, of which there are currently around 300. This year, it was a great pleasure for both the team in the ICSSPE Executive Office and I to welcome so many of you to Berlin. Important decisions were made which offer more legal security for ICSSPE and its members as well as new opportunities to apply for funding. During the meetings it was also agreed to set up a working group whose task will be to develop an anti-doping position statement of ICSSPE. Though ICSSPE has participated in the development of the WADA Anti-Doping Code and the UNESCO Convention against doping, a statement that covers the whole spectrum of interests that the member organisations represent, needs to be developed. Its coverage shall go beyond legislative and moral matters and will, among other items, include educational and economical perspectives as well. You will be informed about the next practical steps in due time.
I would also like to infom you that, as of 1 January 2006, we will have new members on the Executive Board. The General Assembly elected John Saunders, Walter Mengisen and Lateef Amusa to the Board; reelected were Alicia Rutkowska-Kucharska and Michael McNamee.
Following our statutory meetings, we held a symposium on talent identification and development, in co-operation with our partner, DKB-ISTAF, organisers of one of the IAAF Golden League events. Models of talent identification and development and scepticism on success were discussed from many different perspectives, and those of you who participated know that much effort is still needed to bridge the gap between practitioners and scientists.
Again, I would like to invite all of you to participate in the many ICSSPE initiatives through which we try to further develop sport and physical education and actively contribute to social development.
Prof. Dr. Gudrun Doll-Tepper
President, ICSSPE




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