The New Zealand Sports Medicine and Science Conference will combine the annual meetings of Sports Medicine New Zealand, Sport and Exercise Science New Zealand and the New Zealand Academy of Sport (South Island) Sports Forum.
The three-day conference, which starts tomorrow at the Dunedin Town Hall, has attracted 200 delegates to the city.
Some of the sports science and sports medicine international elite will be keynote speakers at the conference, which has been organised by New Zealand Academy of Sport staff.
The chief executive of the South Island Academy, Kereyn Smith, told the Otago Daily Times the conference was a significant forum for high performance sport in New Zealand.
"We will learn what is the global best practice for sport," she said.
"It is a chance for coaches , sports medicine experts and sports scientists to share knowledge so we can move forward together.
"There was a lot of resource testing for new ideas in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics and this is the chance to share what we have learnt."
The New Zealand Sports Medicine Federation (NZSMF) was founded in Dunedin in 1963 but this will be the first time its annual conference has been held in the city.
Queenstown has been the venue on two occasions.
The first woman to chair the federation, Dunedin general practitioner Dr Sandy Webb, said the combined conference was good because it would "allow some interchange of ideas between delegates from the different disciplines.
"That is its strength".
The NZSMF has combined with the Australian College of Sports Physicians and Sport and Exercise Science New Zealand in the past.
One of the keynote speakers is South African Dr Sherylle Calder, a pioneer in visual fitness.
She lives in Somerset in England but spends little time at home as she travels the world sharing her knowledge in this highly specialised field.
Dr Calder was instrumental in helping coach Jake White's Springboks win the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.
Before joining the Springboks, Dr Calder helped England win the World Cup in 2003 and she has also worked with the All Blacks.
Another keynote speaker is Dr Cliff Mallett, a national high performance coach in track and field with the Australian Institute of Sport and the Queensland Academy of Sport.
He has been involved extensively at the elite level and among those he has coached are six Olympic athletes. Australian Peter Sheahan, who has established a globally recognised brand and is a specialist in workforce trends and generational change, will also speak He focuses on how the power of creative and lateral thinking can be harnessed to revolutionise innovation in business and sport.
Keynote speakers in the sports medicine field include: Dr Andrew Garnham, sports physician for the Australian cycling team and senior lecturer in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University, Victoria; Dr Timothy Hewett, the director of the Sports Medicine Biodynamics Centre in Cincinnati, US; and Bruce Twaddle, an orthopaedic surgeon in Auckland, who will present a session on accelerated conservative treatment for Achilles tendon rupture.
The sport and exercise science keynote speaker is Dr Timothy Olds, the professor of Health Sciences at the University of South Australia.
A highlight of the forum will be a group discussion, chaired by Dr Dave Gerrard, about the lessons learned from the Beijing Olympics.
The panel includes coaches Craig Palmer and John Hellemans and track and field manager Raylene Bates.
There will be a special acknowledgement on the Friday morning of the contributions made by sports doctors Norrie Jefferson, Ted Nye and John Heslop, who formed the NZSMF in 1963.
A specialist day for sports doctors, sports physiotherapists and sport scientists will be held tomorrow, with the multi-disciplinary programme scheduled for the next two days.
