Letter from Secretary-General Donalda Ammons

Dear Friends:

For this month’s issue, I am writing in behalf of President John Lovett, who is taking a temporary leave to take care of his health.

At this moment, the World Deaf Badminton Championships are taking place for 8 days in Sofia, Bulgaria with 14 countries from 3 regions participating. It is great that some faraway countries were resolved to send a team, like Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Korea. The website address is http://www.bulbad.8k.com/deaf.htm.  Mr. Martin Bogard, our new technical director, should be commended for his hard work in recruiting top-notch badminton players to come to Sofia.

In a few days, Treasurer Ole Artmann will lead a marketing and communication strategic meeting in Washington, D.C. at Gallaudet University with 11 stakeholders in attendance.  The purpose of this meeting is to make our marketing efforts more efficient and functional.
 
The Technical Directors for summer sports will convene in Lausanne in mid-May 2004 for a 3 day seminar to work on technical aspects for the 2005 Deaflympic Games.  Due to exorbitant travel costs, the seminar had to be moved from Melbourne to Lausanne. In addition, the technical directors will have an opportunity to attend the GAISF Congress which will be filled with representatives of International Sports Federations like FIFA, IAAF, FIBA, et cetera.  The Executive Committee members will convene during that time as well.

In early December, I will meet with Mr. Xavier Gonzales, Liaison Officer of International Paralympic Committee, to work on the newer version of the IPC-CISS agreement and to discuss matters relating to difficulties that some national deaf sports federations are experiencing in their countries for parity.  I will also meet with several key IOC officials in Lausanne.

I ask that you remember your top 2003 Sportsman/woman by submitting nominations to the Secretariat by 15 November.  It is very important that our elite athletes receive recognition for their outstanding performances during the year of 2003.

See you next month!

Donalda K. Ammons
Secretary General

By Donalda Ammons