Heart and Soul – Sport in the UK today will provide you with an in depth understanding of the challenges facing today’s professional sportspeople.
It will provide a platform to debate and discuss the many positive opportunities players and athletes provide for sports, media, brands, sponsors, government agencies and the charity sector.
The content will focus on four key subject areas:
Betting in Sport
Facing up to its impact on sports professionals and how to positively support this issue across all sports. The attraction and draw for professional sportspeople to gambling as well as its negative impact has been well publicised in recent years. But how often is the resulting impact on the player, the support provided and potential prevention of the situation ever examined? Is the integrity of sport compromised by the actions of a few players and can sport ever be 100% clean without better support from the clubs, associations and the professional sports bodies that work with the players? Could sport do more to work with player’s to ensure a proactive stance on the subject and what should this support look like?
Recreational vs. Performance Enhancing Drugs
This session will debate the subject of the use of drugs in sport and the current ‘catch all’ policy on treating sportspeople that use recreational drugs in the same way as those that have used performance enhancing drugs to gain an illegal advantage. Should those found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs be given a second chance? Should recreational drug users be banned from their sport? How should athletes be supported in their rehabilitation and can there are ever be a single approach to the problems of athletes and drugs use? Big questions that will be debated for the first time by athletes, their representatives and the bodies responsible for setting these policies.
Who Should Run Sport?
Few would argue that anyone knows their sport better than the players but why do so few players ever go on to lead the development and administration of their sports after their playing career has come to an end? If sport continues to be run only by professional sports administrators and sports politicians, can it ever truly represent the views of the people that make their sport a success – the athletes? How can the athletes get more involved in the senior decision making of their sport?
The Chief Executive’s Panel
The panel brings together the Chief Executives of a number of the PPF's Associate Members for the first time to debate the key issues affecting professional athletes across a range of sports. The role of the PPF to represent the common interests of the professional athletes across a range of sports and the key individuals representing the players in each sport are at the heart of solving these problems and supporting these individuals. This unique opportunity will provide a unique insight into the efforts being made to allow the players to focus on what they do best – playing.
The conference, taking place from 10:00 to 17:00, will finish with the presentation of the PPF Community Award.
Networking at the conference
As part of the event there will be numerous networking opportunities at the breakfast registration, lunch and at the drinks reception immediately after the event.
Throughout the day you will get the chance to network with like-minded individuals as well as organisations who all play key roles in British sport.
