2020 National Sports Convention looks to provide framework to activate more Australians

Following the success of the 2019 National Sports Convention, the organisers of the industry convention have announced that the event will be returning in 2020, being staged at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from Monday 13th to Wednesday 15th July.

Having this year attracted more than 1,000 plus delegates representing community sport, all levels of government, health, education and the commercial sectors, the organisers of the National Sports Convention (NSC) have recently provided an assessment of the 2019 event and the challenges that lie ahead in getting Australians to be more active.

Featured in the latest edition of Australasian Leisure Management, the ‘Learnings’ discussion paper is being used as a basis for the 2020 Convention, with NSC organisers, in conjunction with Sport Australia and its Foundation Partners; Sport New Zealand, Victoria Government and VicHealth working with industry peak bodies and collaborators to make next year’s event even more successful.

Event co-founder Martin Sheppard, Managing Director of the Smart Connection Consultancy, explains “we are committed to bring together all levels of government, with leaders, planners, policy makers and providers from health, sport, fitness and the education sectors to share knowledge, develop collaborations and explore options on how as an industry we can make Australia more active.”

Also backing the Federal Government’s Sport 2030 strategy, the vision of NSC 2020 is “to collectively create a more active nation, where people in our communities live longer, have healthier lives, reduce the burdens of disease and are more connected with their communities.”

To achieve this, the event has a mission to:

• Provide global to local learnings that inspire and guide our ‘systems thinking’ around planning, policy making, resourcing and provision
• Create opportunities for the health, play, recreation, fitness, education, government and sport sectors to collectively show-case successful approaches that encourage communities to be more active while creating future opportunities
• Connect peak bodies and industry sectors in a manner that encourages a collective approach to addressing trends and priorities
• Create industry tools and information that allows delegates to take knowledge and resources to the workplace to increase their ability to collectively make a difference, and create a more active nation, and provide greater opportunities for people to play, recreate and participate in community sport
• Explore questions that the industry face and create innovative solutions through a collective industry response

Commenting on what the program will address, Shepherd added “the NSC Delegate polls and feedback from the collaborators have allowed us to identify key aspects that the industry would like to see in 2020.”

The key priorities identified from the polls and feedback to address at NSC 2020 include:

1. Collective approaches to policy, planning and funding 
2. Creating Active Environments
3. Creating Active Communities
4. Encouraging More Active Australians
5. Supporting and Strengthening an Active Industry

The next NSC will be held from Monday 13th to Wednesday 15th July 2020.

Click here to view details of the National Sports Convention in the Australasian Leisure Management Industry Calendar.