Sports injury prevention conferences are set to be a regular feature on the Australian calendar following the outstanding success of the recent 2nd National Sports Injury Prevention Conference held at the Novotel Hotel, Olympic Park.
More than 150 delegates attended the three-day Conference which ran under the theme “Breaking Down the Barriers”.
Representatives from every state and the ACT attended the conference which featured Canada’s Dr Claude Goulet as a guest keynote speaker and attracted delegates from five other countries – the United States, Colombia, Burma, Sri Lanka and Borneo.
Following the tragic events of September 11 the other scheduled international speaker Dr David Janda, the Director of the Institute for Preventative Sports Medicine in Michigan, reluctantly withdrew from the trip to Australia.
However, Dr Janda taped his keynote address and three supporting lectures for breakout sessions and these were well received by conference delegates.
Following his opening keynote address titled “The Politics of Prevention – Breaking Down the Barriers”, which set the tone for the entire conference, Dr Janda joined delegates via a telephone hook-up from his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan and several were given the chance to ask questions.
Dr Goulet, the Director of the Safety Unit with the Quebec Secretariat for Leisure and Sport, gave delegates an excellent insight in Quebec’s unique piece of legislation which enforces safety in amateur sport in the Province in his keynote address “Is Legislation the Answer for Safety in Sport – the Quebec Experience”.
Associate Professor Caroline Finch of Monash University in Victoria headed an impressive list of local speakers that ensured the success of the Conference and provided delegates with a wealth of information and practical advice.
Dr Finch, Australia’s foremost sports epidemiologist, shouldered a huge workload which included the keynote address “Community Based Sports Injury Prevention – Making it Work”, three breakout lectures and a workshop.
North Queensland Cowboys team physician Dr Greg Winter gave an illuminating keynote address on his “other passion” making sport safer for older athletes.
Dr
Winter, the head of the medical team at the Honda Masters Games
in Alice Springs last year and a masters athlete himself, gave delegates
an excellent overview of the unique problems that face older athletes
and plenty of useful tips on how to prevent injuries at that level.
Another of the numerous highlights of the conference was a superb
presentation on the role of research in preventing injuries by Associate
Professor Julie Steele of the University of Wollongong.
Likewise Dr Robbie Parker’s thought-provoking keynote address titled “ Safety in Children’s Sport” on the final morning of the Conference provided the perfect platform for the ensuing forum “Are we Treating Our Children Like Little Adults?”
Other keynote presenters included Dr Helen O’Connor from the University of Sydney who spoke on the role of a balanced diet preventing injuries in sport and Melbourne solicitor Ms Jackie Solakovski who spoke on “The Law and Safety in Sport – Clearing the Minefield” and then acted as the facilitator for a workshop which helped delegates develop a risk management safety plan for their organizations.
In closing the Conference Mr John Garbutt, the Acting Deputy Chair of the Sporting Injuries Committee, said that the success of the event ensured that it would now become a permanent fixture on the Australian sporting scene.
“Clearly the Committee has established with successful conferences in 1998 and now in 2001 that there is a need for the national sports injury prevention conference to be a regular event and one that will be supported by everyone connected with sports injury prevention,” said Mr Garbutt