President's e-Message

Welcome to the New Year and may the year 2002 be a very healthy and successful year for you all!

It was interesting to receive your comments on our first e-News.

Aside from a lengthy mail pointing out some errors in the e-News, I was pleased to receive about 10 mails from individuals and national associations of sports of the deaf complimenting us for the new magazine. We welcome your comments!

What would 2002 means for the CISS as there are no Deaflympic Games in this year? We will still have busy year, promoting and developing sports for deaf people in various countries.

We are visiting and will visit a number of countries where there are no members of CISS to increase awareness about CISS and deaf sports in these countries. As I write this message, our Secretary-General Donalda Ammons is visiting Caribbean Islands to meet with deaf leaders and to conduct series of mini-workshops explaining about roles of CISS and its international events, etc.

The CISS Executive Committee has a pleasure in announcing that its search for a Sport Director has been successful, and we have appointed Colin Macdonald of Great Britain to this position. More information about Colin is enclosed elsewhere in this e-News.

This February, the CISS will conduct a seminar for Winter Games Technical Directors at Sundsvall, Sweden in preparation for the 15th Winter Deaflympic Games 2003. We would like to thank the Swedish Deaf Sports Association and City of Sundsvall for its assistance in hosting the seminar.  The seminar will then be followed by a Committee meeting of the CISS Executive.

As your president, I have been in regular contact with the International Olympic Committee and a meeting has been arranged for me with Dr. Jacques Rogge at Lausanne early in March. There are several outstanding discussion items that I hope would be finalised at this meeting.

In April, the CISS will host a Regional Confederations Seminar in Melbourne. President and Secretary-General from each of four Regional Confederations will fly down to Melbourne for one weekís seminar. Aims of this seminar are primarily to enable both CISS and four Confederations to; develop medium and long term strategic planning; establish coordinated international deaf sport calendar, and agree on format of financial supports for future seminars, workshops and training programs etc.

That is for the first four months of this year! Members of the Executive Committee will continue to work on their specific portfolios throughout the year.

So once again, all the best wishes for the New Year!

Warm regards,
John M. Lovett, A.M.

By John Lovett