More than 3000 delegates will travel from around the world to take part in the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport (ICSEMIS) at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre from July 19 to 23.
It is a forum for exchanging ideas, articulating theories and proposing new methods of working. There will be discussion on such topical subjects such as technology in sport, the prevention of sudden death syndrome and the importance of fitness and health for children.
The matter of sport psychology will flow through much of the five days. It is therefore more than educational to hear the views of Mark Andersen, one of the most innovative and respected practitioners, from a spot on the other side of the world.
Lecturers he has mentored will take part in the convention and Andersen's ideas and working practices have gained international exposure through more than 160 journal articles, book chapters, full conference papers, and books. He will also be at the conference and present a talk entitled The Mindful Psychologist at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Professor of sport and exercise science (psychology) at Victoria University in Australia, Andersen's ways of working with an athlete have evolved over decades of practice.
He does not disdain the traditional methods of sport psychology and has no axe to grind with his peers, but quietly and gradually he has formed a way of working with athletes and being a mentor to younger psychologists.
''I know we are seen as part of a culture of performance enhancement, but I believe in an overarching agenda of health and happiness of those we are working with," he says. This viewpoint has been formed through experience.
''People will come to you hoping to become better athletes and down the line you will find that 75-80% have issues that need attention, such as why they are suffering from bulimia, how they have been damaged in childhood.''
He scoffs at the notion that athletes are more self-obsessed or focused than the general population. ''My experience is that they are just as damaged as the rest of us,'' he says.
Andersen, who light-heartedly describes himself as a child of the sixties, has a philosophy that can be broadly described as compassionate. His focus is to heal the person rather than just improve the athlete. The first, of course, can have a dramatic effect on the second.
There is a problem in some of sports science that dehumanises the athlete. ''You will hear physios saying, 'I have to go and see a knee' so I have always resisted the idea that I have to go to see a competition anxiety or a fear of failure. I always have at the front of my thoughts that I am seeing a person.''
He adds: ''There is a whole spectrum of sport psychology and I have no argument with it, but I like to focus on the person. I look at it as counselling, listening and relating.''
He grew up in San Francisco and has always been interested in sport, especially skiing. ''I was never particularly good at it but I enjoyed it," he says. After finally knuckling down to education, he has become an influential figure in the science of sport.
''There is much shame and hurt in us as human beings,'' he says. ''The sportsman or sportswoman has the same problems as the rest of us, though at times they are more tested in the stressful crucible of sport. I try to work to their agenda of what they see the process as achieving, but what happens is that evolves as we continue to work together.''
This relationship has benefited athletes across a range of sports, but it has had an effect on Andersen too. ''I have become mellower over the years and I hope more compassionate,'' he says. ''I have also become less judgmental.''
The learning process for sport scientists and psychologists continues this month in Glasgow. The convention will bring researchers, students and practitioners from every branch of sport together to discuss the latest publications, equipment and teachings in sport science and physical education.
As part of a scholarship scheme, ICSEMIS will also bring 45 students from developing nations to the convention, funded via the Olympic Lottery Distributor.
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