SportAccord and GAISF meetings in Gold Coast

Greetings from Gold Coast, the surfing capital of Australia!

It is where the GAISF are meeting. It is a meeting of all International Federations from around the globe.

This convention has been an eye-opener. The topics they cover are very similar to the topics we discuss at ICSD including governance, gender equality, managing conflict of interest and financial transparency.

It certainly shows we are not alone in dealing with these important issues and that we have a whole community of international federations for support and advice.

I also had the pleasure of catching up with Kit Mc Connell from the IOC who sent his biggest regards to the ICSD family and that he was very pleased to attend ICSD’s executive board meeting in Lausanne last month. He also said he was very pleased with our work in driving reform in deaf sports. I also had the pleasure of meeting with the General Secretary for FIBA and I took the opportunity to thank him for the support given to DIBF. I also met with the International Mini Golfing Federation who were very keen to explore opportunities to support deaf sports.

This has been an extremely positive experience and I think the International Federations deserve praise for all the support they have given to deaf sports.