New Year, New Team Members at ICSSPE Head Office

ICSSPE has started the New Year with new staff joining the team at the Berlin Headquarters in Germany. Pascal Camara and Cora Zillich both joined the team mid-January in the roles of Sport Science Research Manager and Communications and Marketing Manager respectively.

Sport Science Research Manager Pascal Camara will be in charge of ICSSPE’s research activities including the planning and implementation of scientific and educational events and the production of multi-disciplinary scientific publications.

Pascal holds a Master Degree in Sport Development and Politics from the Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln (DSHS) and is continuing his studies as a PhD student at the Institute of Sport History of the DSHS. Prior to coming to Germany, he completed a Bachelor Degree in Sport Management and Technology at the Universidad Deportiva del Sur in Venezuela.

Before joining ICSSPE Pascal worked as a Research Assistant for Mission 89 a research, education, and advocacy organisation on trafficking of young athletes in sport.   

Originally from The Gambia, he worked in his home country as a Program Officer for all Sports Associations at The Gambia National Sports Council and as Sport Coordinator for the Ministry of Youth and Sports before moving to Germany to further his studies.

He is also a former Sports Reporter with Today Newspaper and Presenter and Producer at West Coast Radio in The Gambia.

Pascal is excited to be joining ICSSPE and hopes to make an impact:

“I am thrilled to be part of ICSSPE and I hope that my inputs into our projects and the collaboration with our members will add value to the already great contributions of this institution to the sport ecosystem and the world at large.  I’m looking forward to working with everyone at different levels.”

While he is bringing a keen interest into all things sport and a wide range of skills and experiences to the team, one of his passions and special interests are sport policy, governance and sport structures in developing countries, including on his home continent, Africa.

When is not behind the books or his computer, Pascal enjoys going for a run, listening to personal development podcasts and getting to know Berlin.

Cora Zillich will be managing the Communications and Marketing activities of the organisation. Cora is a Senior Communications Specialist, who has over 20 years of experience in the field.

She will be ICSSPE’s contact person for anything news and content related (editorial and digital), social media, PR, media and marketing – both on a day to day basis as well as from a strategy and planning point of view.

Cora is a German-Australian dual citizen who has lived and worked in various countries, including Germany, Australia, USA, UK, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Italy. Like Pascal, she moved to Berlin for the new role.

Cora holds a double M.A. in European Studies and has worked in communications and marketing related roles both in the corporate (BMW, Deutsche Bank, and Energy Industry) as well as in the sporting world.

She has worked across a variety of Olympic and Paralympic sports and major events, for National and International Sporting Federations and Teams as well as for several OCs and OCOGs, including at London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Most recently, she was the Media Operations Manager for the European Championships Munich 2022.

A former national team rower and representative for Germany at several world rowing and university championships, Cora is passionate about all things sport, especially women in sport, athlete wellbeing and transition, mental health, and safeguarding and has been an advocate and ambassador for an active and healthy life style, especially as part of cancer awareness and prevention campaigns.

“I’m very excited to be working with ICSSPE’s members and I’m looking forward to contributing with both my professional experience as well as my personal interests to the promotion of ICSSP's activities and expertise, to further grow the organisation and by doing so, ultimately support change and further development in the sporting world and beyond.”

In her spare time, Cora likes to run with her dog Ronja and is looking forward to reconnecting with her rowing friends in Berlin and explore the city from on and off the water.

Apart from Cora and Pascal, ICSSPE also welcomed little Ronja to the team and as an active working dog, hailing from Australia, she will be supporting the ICSSPE office team a couple times per week and keep the team active on their lunch time breaks.

Welcome to the team everyone!