President's Message - November 2008

New Vision….New Horizons…New Records

For the past few months since the last eNews, ICSD has witnessed some new changes and encouraging progress.

In early September, DeafNation, ICSD media partner, traveled to Chinese Taipei for the Taipei 2009 Deaflympics Organizing Committee's 365-day kickoff.  The 5 September kickoff was very inspirational and positive.  Click here for a 4 minute video clip of the kickoff.

Mr. Joel Barish, CEO of DeafNation, also produced a total of 12 video clips on Taiwan, which give us a better understanding and appreciation of Taiwan's culture, people, and food. These video clips can be seen here.

Another milestone for ICSD- Fifty-four countries sent delegates to attend ICSD's extraordinary Congress in Bratislava. The theme was "Deaf Sports Reform for Our Better Future".  The delegates overwhelmingly voted in support for organizational structure changes. In this issue, you will see two power point presentations on Deaf Sports Reform and the voting results. ICSD is gradually taking small but important steps forward and towards the spirit and principles of Olympism.

In mid-July, ICSD received notification from the State of Vaud in Switzerland that ICSD has met the requirements for the tax exemption and is eligible for a rent-free office paid by the State of Vaud and the City of Lausanne for the first 2 years.  We are currently looking at a small office (nearly 20 m2) at the Maison du Sport International.

ICSD was truly pleased to see that Mr. Ronald Gough from the United States was invited by FILA to participate as a referee at the 2nd World Deaf Wrestling Championships in Yerevan, Armenia. He is indeed a unique person since he is the only deaf referee in the world who has an international FILA license.  In this issue, there is an article on Ron Gough written by the 2nd World Deaf Wrestling Organizing Committee.

At the recent 1st World Deaf Athletics Championships in Izmir, Turkey, we saw a total of 23 world records and junior records.  It is clearly evident that despite limited resources afforded to them, deaf athletes continue to be resolute in reaching newer and higher heights.

The 2009 Summer Deaflympics in Taipei will prove to be the largest and most spectacular ever- more than 80 countries have registered, an operating budget of USD $30 million, 3 main venues provide new, state of the art facilities in downtown Taipei, with some of Taipei's leading tourist attractions only short distances away. During the site inspection in Taipei last month, ICSD conducted a draw, to determine groups for each team sport. There will be many exciting competition games/matches to watch and follow.

On behalf of over ten million deaf athletes worldwide, thank you for your continued support!

Dr. Donalda K. Ammons
President

By Donalda Ammons