Magazine - SportSURF Launch New Conference

By Press Release in Training on 3rd Nov 2006 13:00

You are invited to submit a paper for the inaugural SportSURF conference to be held at Loughborough University, UK on the 17th and 18th September, 2007.

This is the first of a new biennial conference for those interested and involved in sport surfaces. Its inception is borne out of the successful SportSURF network, bringing together many academic disciplines and industrial parties to discuss and formulate research needs for sport surfaces of the future.

The conference aims to provide a unique opportunity for the discussion of current research ideas and findings, dissemination of current practice and the transfer of technology and ideas between attendees from the academic and industrial communities.

The specific objectives are:

· To establish the 'STARSS' conference as an enjoyable and valuable addition to the sport technology calendar.
· To further establish the SportSURF network as an international community of sport surface researchers and practitioners.
· To disseminate current high quality research from around the world.
· To provide an opportunity to all attendees for networking, and encourage young researchers to present their research.
· To identify coherent research needs for the future benefit of the sport surfaces community.

Who Should Attend?

The conference is aimed at those involved in all aspects of sports surfaces including: academic research; industrial research; facility design & procurement;construction, management/operation and funding; sport governance; accredited surface testing; standardisation; player/athlete coaching and welfare; and sport medical sciences.

The conference will be run over two days with a dinner on the first evening. The conference will balance the presentations between science and application and stimulate questions and debate between researchers and practitioners. The venue has ample space for posters, exhibitions and other displays. Papers and posters are invited on the broad topics of:

· Player-surface interaction
· Ball-surface interaction
· User perceptions
· Design and construction - innovations
· Biomechanics - modelling, instrumentation
· Laboratory and Field testing - interpretation, innovation, spatial and temporal studies
· Environmental impact - sustainability, value engineering
· Durability - mechanical wear, measurement, environmental issues, maintenance

Sportsurf aims to stimulate an integrated multidisciplinary research response to address the problems associated with the interactions of sport players and the sport surfaces, for community and elite level across the full range of sports. The network will bring together for the first time a broad range of stakeholders, comprising academics, practitioners, and sport governing bodies to share ideas and consolidate current knowledge, discuss and formulate research needs, disseminate the outcomes and seek funding for the long-term benefit of this important topic.

See Link for details SportSurf

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