International para-sports conference to take place in Brazil

Through scientific studies, we gain further knowledge in medicine, physiology, biomechanics and several other areas related to sports. So the conference will directly contribute to the development of para-sports."

The Brazilian Paralympic Committee, alongside the Brazilian Paralympic Academy (APB) and in partnership with the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), is set to stage Brazil’s largest scientific event in the field of adapted sports in Florianopolis, Brazil, from 5-7 November.

The 2014 International Para-Sports Conference, the fourth edition of the event, will feature presentations by renowned professionals from the Brazilian and international sports scene.

Twelve speakers from four countries, including Brazil, are confirmed to attend.

Since its first edition in 2010, the event’s focus has been on bringing together the academic community with an interest in para-sport. Although the conference is geared towards physical education students and professionals, such as doctors, physiotherapists and educators, professionals and students from any area are welcome to register until 24 October.

Among the researchers, teachers and sports professionals already chalked to attend, physiologist Irineu Loturco has confirmed his attendance.

Loturco works with the Brazilian national Paralympic athletics team and runs the High Performance Sports Centre in Sao Paulo. He is also the technical director of the Body Tech chain of fitness centres, in addition to having worked with major Brazilian football teams such as the Corinthians, Palmeiras and Atletico-MG.

The conference will also feature Brett Smith from the University of Loughborough, Great Britain. Editor of the magazine Qualitative Research in Sports, Exercise & Health, Smith has written more than 100 publications on sports for people with impairments.

Yves Vanlandewijck, from the Department of Rehabilitation Science at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and Chairperson of the International Paralympic Committee’s Sports Science Committee will also speak.

The conference will feature a variety of para-sports themes that will attract professionals from various sectors and different schools of thought.

Belgian Veerle Bosscher; Elizabeth Broad of Australia and Edison Duarte, a doctor in human anatomy from Unicamp university, Brazil, are confirmed to speak in conferences on sports management, nutrition and at the closing conference respectively.

"These are all top level professionals in the sports field who have published several papers on this topic,” Alberto Martins da Costa, coordinator of the Brazilian Paralympic Academy, said.

“The purpose is to show what kind of research is being carried out in Brazil and abroad. The varied themes will appeal to all kinds of interests in sports science,"

According to Martins da Costa, an event with confirmed speakers from Brazil and abroad is not only important to the academic community, which studies and researches sports, but also for the development of para-sports. "The academic area is of fundamental importance to para-sports,” he said. “Through scientific studies, we gain further knowledge in medicine, physiology, biomechanics and several other areas related to sports. So the conference will directly contribute to the development of para-sports,"