Keynote Addresses
Peak Oil: What it Means for the Community and the Sport and Recreation Industry
James Howard Kunstler
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. In short, some say that we are simply running out of oil. If this is true then there may be huge increases in energy costs, which in turn might fundamentally change the way we live our lives. This will of course have an impact on the sport and recreation industry. Hear from on the world’s strongest proponents of the likelihood of facing the crisis sooner rather than later. James Kunstler is controversial, funny, scary and entertaining. This session will make you think!
No Child Left Inside
Martin LeBlanc, Children & Nature Network
The No Child Left Inside movement in the United States seeks to encourage and provide funding for environmental education. Its goals include the enhancement of environmental literacy between kindergarten and twelfth grade and fostering of understanding, analysis and solutions to environmental challenges. Martin LeBlanc has played an important role in the development of No Child Left Inside legislation through his work at the Sierra Club and as vice-president of the Children and Nature Network.
Engaging Urban Youth through the Power of Nature
Brother Yusuf, Children & Nature Network
For more than 20 years, Brother Yusuf has provided many Albany and Brooklyn teens with their first opportunity to experience nearby wilderness areas. Part naturalist, part counsellor, part community organiser, part surrogate father, he has helped send hundreds of kids – most from low-income, single-parent, inner-city homes – hiking across the high peaks of the Adirondacks, sailing on the Hudson River, skiing and snowboarding down the Catskills, and rafting on the Ausable River.
“He’s taken a passion and transformed it into something useful and transforming for the kids he deals with,” says Keyon Young, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Albany (USA). “And he has a phenomenal rapport with kids.”
“We do gang prevention, not gang intervention.” Brother Yusuf says. “I’ll start in the third grade with community gardening, bird-box building in the summer, eagle-watching in the winter. We don’t leave ‘em alone; we keep ‘em moving. It’s all about youth leading youth, with me and the other adults as their guides.”
“And it works, particularly when some school administrator calls up and says, ‘I can see a real difference in Mr. Smith. He’s really focusing,’” Brother Yusuf continues. “A lot of folks, including policemen, know my youngsters. They’re called ‘Yusuf’s kids’. They know these are the kids who are doing something different.”
"And it works, particularly when some school administrator calls up and says, 'I can see a real difference in Mr. Smith. He's really focusing,'" Burgess continues. "A lot of folks, including policemen, know my youngsters. They're called 'Yusuf's kids.' They know these are the kids who are doing something different."
Dealing with the ‘F’ Factors: How Football (Soccer) is Connecting with Females to be Physically Active
Heather Reid, Capital Football
As the only female CEO in football (soccer) in Australia, Heather Reid has been instrumental in forming, developing and promoting opportunities for women and girls in sport and physical activity. Heather will identify concepts and programs encouraging women to be more physically active and motivate them to participate in organised sport and physical recreation. Heather will demonstrate how one football federation has developed and strengthened female participation across various age groups from under 10s to over 35s over the past five years. These initiatives have led to an increasingly family friendly and inclusive sport for all.
The Coach as a Mentor
Glenn Manton
Join former AFL player Glenn Manton as he uses personal stories to highlight the need for coaches to connect personally with their team members and the extraordinary results that such interaction can produce both on and off the field. Glenn is dedicated to helping young people build better lives for themselves. He has been both a mentor and a mentee and through the power of mentorship, he is working to make our community a more inclusive and safer place.
Man Overboard? Ladies, Language and Leadership in Australian Sport
Margot Foster
Daily the media headlines reveal the way the world views women. NRL tells clubs to get women on board. Superwoman myth hindering women leaders. Melbourne Club between a vice regal twinset and a hard place. Karl Lagerfeld says “no one wants to see curvy women”. There is almost nothing that women do that doesn’t elicit a comment or a criticism in the spheres of law, politics, business and, importantly, sport – just ask Stephanie Rice.
Margot Foster will compare the positions of influence held by women in sports leadership in Australia with women in senior roles in business, politics and the law. She will address the effect and relevance on the ascension of women to positions of leadership in sport by looking at the formal and informal mechanisms and impediments from government registries, business women’s groups, the taps on the shoulder and the being in the right place at the right time. And how the language we use to and about each other, in all these spheres and circumstances, colours the attitudes we may have towards others. There is room on the good ship Sport for everyone and no man needs to fear being thrown overboard.
The Value of Sport and Recreation: Big Issues Now and in the Future
Simon Balderstone
Simon Balderstone AM will be attending both days of the conference, including the important Strategic Directions 5 workshop. His role will be to summarise and comment on the information presented at the conference. He will also talk about the far reaching positive impacts that sport and recreation have on the individual participant and the community in general. In addition, he will touch on the need for political advocacy. Simon is particularly well qualified to do this being an advisor to the International Olympic Committee, the Founding Chairman of the Australian Himalayan Foundation and an advisor to Prime Ministers Hawke and Keating.
