Sports journalists head to Los Angeles
Friday 9 March 2012
James Kemble, David Charnley, Andrew Bontiff, Dominique Hume and Zsanett Furka were the third year students who travelled to the United States, while second year, Chris Deacon, also made the trip.
The conference, entitled: Together Stronger: the future of Sport; was organised jointly by the IOC and the United States Olympic Committee. A host of guest speakers attended the event, including Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of LOCOG, Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC and Anita DeFrantz, IOC Women and Sport Commission Chairperson.
Over the course of the three days, the students attended numerous seminars which looked at different aspects of how participation and involvement of women in sport can grow even further.
One aspect that they took from the conference is that women’s participation is slowly increasing year on year, with 45% of athletes at this year’s Olympics Games set to be women. In fact, women will have more events available to them than men, as men do not participate in synchronised sSwimming.
Sports journalism student, James Kemble, said: “The trip was a real learning curve for us; it was a fantastic experience for all involved and we took so much from the conference, learning about the difficulties and barriers that face women when it comes to sport.”
As well as bumping into England football legend, David Beckham, the students also had the honour of meeting both Lord Sebastian Coe and Jacques Rogge, both of whom were delighted that students from a university so close to the Olympic site and so heavily involved in the London 2012 Games had attended such an important event.
Notes to Editors
The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.
