The Olympic Studies Centre contributed again to Sport Management Seminar in Japan
The international orientation and expertise of the Institute for Sports History/ Olympic Studies Centre is mirrored both in research and teaching. Beginning of September, it contributed again to the Sport Management Seminar “NIFS International Sport Academy” des National Institute of Fitness and Sports (NIFS) in Kanoya, Japan.
The teaching programme, held from 04.-16. September 2016, was organised for the fourth time. It is part of the comprehensive project “Sport for Tomorrow” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Japan, which aims at reaching, mobilising and connecting young people worldwide in the run-up to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
22 international students, employees of sport organisations and coaches primarily from Asian countries participated in the two-weekly multidisciplinary seminar which was taught in English by international as well as Japanese teachers. The international topics of the seminar covered among others the Olympic Movement, sports medicine, anti-doping programmes, training science and sport management. These contents were mirrored in the Japanese sport. Deep insights into the Japanese sports culture were provided in the course of theoretical as well as practical sessions in traditional Japanese sports and their standing in the modern, globalised sports world.
The German Sport University Cologne has been represented by teachers/ professors in this programme since it was organised for the first time in March 2015. Caroline Meier represented the Institute for Sports History/ Olympic Studies Centre for the fourth time now. “It is always an exciting and valuable experience to hold lectures on Olympic History and Olympic Education for students and future sports leaders from Asian countries. The discussions and conversations following my lectures offer new insights and unknown perspectives on international sports, its chances and its problems. In this sense the seminar offers both for the students as well as the teachers/ professors a worthwhile opportunity to learn from and about one another.”
This shows that another declared target of the seminar – the international networking among engaged students and employees of sport organisations as well as the initiation of an intercultural learning process – besides the actual teaching of contents and thus the education of internationally oriented professionals in the field of Olympic and Paralympic sports in Asia is attained.