Glamorgan Business School senior lecturer, Rob Griffiths has been elected as the Welsh President of the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management.
The Institute is the national professional body for those involved exclusively in providing, managing, operating and developing sport and recreation services in the United Kingdom.
This is the first time in the history of the branch that an academic has been elected as President – a reflection of Rob’s continued engagement with the industry.
The University has enjoyed close links with the professional body and in 2006 the BA Sport Management degree became the first in Wales to be formally accredited by the ISRM. This accreditation demonstrates the industry relevance of the course and allows students to gain membership to the Institute following graduation.
Rob received the presidency during a recent ISRM conference: Legacy Planning for Elite Sport in Wales; a conference that featured presentations from Dr Huw Jones, Chief Executive Sport Wales and David Evans, Head of 2012 pre-games training for the Welsh Assembly.
Rob said: “It is likely to be a very exciting time for the ISRM as we work towards a new Chartered Institute of Sport. During the next 12 months I am looking to broaden the membership base of the branch. Sports facility management has always been its bedrock and we need to maintain our strength in this area whilst also looking at ways of engaging colleagues from the expanding sectors of sports development and health and fitness.”
The conference was attended by students and staff from the University and its partner college, Coleg Sir Gar, a feature that Rob is keen to make permanent.
“Engaging with students from FE/HE is vital for future workforce development,” he said. “The students that attended were able to listen to leading practitioners and more importantly speak with them over the lunch period. It is vital that we continue to forge partnerships between education and the sports industry.”
Later this year, Rob is hoping to organise a conference at the university focused on children and youth sports development which will provide a fantastic opportunity to showcase Glamorgan’s fantastic new sports facilities.
