2004 Northamptonshire Sport PE and Sport Conference - a major success!
The Northamptonshire Sports Partnership (NSport) PE and Sport Conference was held on 10 March at University College Northampton. The event attracted over 150 delegates and young sports leaders from a range of backgrounds and areas of interest. Of note at the conference was the inclusion of the Youth Leadership Conference (SiS) enabling young people to be showcased and mix with conference members for the first time.
The split afternoon/evening programme allowed paid and volunteer sports people to attend sessions and to network, and also illustrated the strong link with the University - not just as host, but now an active member of the NSport Partnership.
The acknowledged support by Sport England for the event included Lloyd Conway and Guin Batten as guest speakers, Graham Ross covering LTAD and several members of the East Midlands Regional team covering various workshops. Importantly, this was noted by a range of people including Northamptonshire County Councils Leader, Mick Young who continues to be an excellent role model for championing and advocating the value of sport and sports partnerships across political and wider networks.
Of particular note at the event was the keynote address by Guin Batten, an Olympic Silver medalist Rower, who gave a very realistic insight to what it means to be an international athlete and the necessary commitment required to get to such a high standard. As noted by many delegates her speech was truly inspirational.
A range of workshops were provided in the afternoon and evening sessions, ranging from information on playground developments to practical sessions for coaches. A good example of one of the workshops included the practical use of ICT in physical education, which provided a great insight into simple things that can be done to help sport take advantage of ICT developments to improve the way physical education is delivered in schools across the Northamptonshire.