National Sports Convention expands with National Aquatic and Recreation Infrastructure Conference

With the backing of leading aquatic and recreation peak bodies including the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS) and the Australian Leisure Facilities Association, (ALFA)  the new National Aquatic and Recreation Infrastructure Conference (NARIC) is to be staged as part of the 2018 National Sports Convention.

To be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 17th and 18th July 2018, NARIC will include sessions dealing with collaborations between state and local government with educational facilities, planning and design for new facilities and the refurbishment and repositioning of aquatic and recreation facilities.

IAKS President Dr Stefan Kannewischer will be part of NARIC, sharing insights into international aquatic, recreation and sport facility trends.

He explains “(IAKS) is delighted to partner with the National Sports Convention (as) we are looking forward to expanding our network in Australia and New Zealand.

“As our societies and therefore also sports and leisure behaviours are changing, sports and leisure facilities are facing numerous challenges that are described in the IAKS Future Trends 2020.”

Key speakers and focuses for the Conference include:

• Aquatic and Leisure Global Trends - Dr Stefan Kannewischer, President, IAKS Facilities
• Sport and Recreation Facilities for the Future - Oliver Vanges, The Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities
• Data Mining Justifying Capital Investment and Growing Participation - Alex Burrows, Founding Director, 4 global and Datahub (UK)
• Activating of Spaces - Marianne Kynde Hestbech, Keingart Architects (Denmark)
• Surfing in Urban Environments - Andrew Ross, Chief Executive, URBNSURF

Places are limited to 120 delegates to optimise knowledge sharing and networking.

The National Sports Convention is expanding this year to feature additional conferences, events and collaborators.

These include:

• National Community Sport Conference
• National Football Conference
• National Disability Sport Conference
• National Sports Surfaces Conference
• National Aquatic and Recreation Infrastructure Conference
• National Basketball Conference
• School Sport Conference
• Leisure Industry Communication and Marketing Summit and Awards 
• National Gymnastics Clubs Conference
• Sport and Recreation Expo
• Industry Tours
• Australian Sport, Recreation and Play Innovation Awards

Each Conference will share the global keynote speaker sessions before adjourning to their own conference program.

The National Sports Convention is backed by collaborators including Sport New Zealand, VicHealth, IAKS (the International Association for Aquatics and Leisure Facilities), Vicsport, Community Sport Australia, Sports And Play Industry Association, Disability Sport and Recreation, Basketball Australia, Gymnastics Victoria, Australasian Leisure Management, Aquatics and Recreation Victoria and the Aquatic and Recreation Institute.

For more information on NARIC and the National Sports Convention click here to view details in the Australasian Leisure Management Industry Calendar.

Lower image: Dr Stefan Kannewischer.

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