Margo Mountjoy to speak about youth athlete development at VISTA 2015

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have announced that Margo Mountjoy of the Faculty of Family Medicine, McMaster University in Canada, has been added to the list of world class speakers for October’s VISTA 2015 conference in Girona, Spain.

The year’s VISTA theme between 7-10 October is “securing the future of young para-athletes” and Mountjoy, who is a member of the IOC Medical Commission Games Group, will present on “Youth Athlete Development: Recommendations from the IOC”.

Margo Mountjoy, who is also a Member of the FINA Executive Board, said: “At VISTA in October I will present on the outcomes of an IOC Medical and Scientific Department consensus meeting from November 2014 which addressed the importance of athlete protection against harassment and abuse in sport.

“One of the main outcomes was the need for the critical evaluation of the current state of science and practice with respect to the training and development of youth athletes, due to the fact that the entire model of talent development from novice to elite is built upon a constantly changing base.

“Another outcome was for guidelines and recommendations to be drawn up on sustainable and effective ways to develop healthy, resilient and capable youth athletes, while providing opportunities for all levels of success.

“What I will talk about will hopefully be of great interest to all stakeholders involved in youth sports.”

Other speakers confirmed for VISTA 2015 are:

• Ciro Winckler of Sao Paulo Federal University and Raymond So of the Hong Kong Sports Institute who will cover the topic of athlete health and performance.

• Viola Altmann of the Sint Maartenskliniek rehabilitation centre in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and Debbie Van Biesen from University of Leuven, Belgium, who will present on conceptual applications of evidence-based classification.

• Daniel Theisen, of the Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, Luxembourg Institute of Health; Osnat Fliess-Douer of the Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the Wingate Institute and Netanya, Israel; and Argentine para-athlete Daniela Luchina, will present on “securing the future of young para-athletes”.

Registration for VISTA 2015 is now open at www.vista2015.com and hundreds of experts and sports specialists from around the world are expected to attend.

Organisers are currently offering an early bird discount of 300 EUR, a 15 per cent discount on the listed price, to anyone who books before 15 June 2015.

VISTA is designed to promote and advance the mission, goals, objectives and reputation of the IPC and provides a platform for the academic world to meet with athletes and professional experts in the field of sport for athletes with an impairment.

It provides a forum for exchange on the latest information, research and expertise related to the Paralympic Movement and promotes cross-disciplinary interaction among sport scientists, athletes, coaches, administrators and the media.

It was first held in 1993 and has since developed a global reputation for acting as a platform for debate, discussion and dialogue on key issues relating to the growth of the Paralympic Movement.