Following the success of last year¿s Fitness Convention, ITT are proud to announce the annual Fitness Convention being held on Friday February 17th 2012 at the Carlton Hotel, Tralee. This year will see a host of Keynote Speakers on thought provoking areas such as fundamental movement skills and core training for athletic performance. Masterclasses include BODYBALANCE¿, BODYCOMBAT¿ and a motivational choreographic session.

This one day event combines a series of presentations and practical workshops focusing on the themes of Young Children’s Fundamental Movement Skills with Rachael Jefferson Buchanan; Training for Athletic Performance with Mark Kilgallon; High-Voltage Motivation – A Choreographic Masterclass with Astrid Longhurst and BODYBALANCE™ and BODYCOMBAT™ with Giovanni Sacco.

Rachael Jefferson Buchanan is the leading expert in the area of fundamental movement skills in young children and is based in the UK. Her session will demonstrate the methods by which practitioners can develop children’s movement vocabulary (running, jumping, throwing and catching to mention just a few) thus giving them greater opportunity to engage in physical activity and sport for the rest of their lives.  With the increasing concerns about childhood obesity and inactivity levels this element of the conference proceedings is one which would be of particular interest to those working with children.

Mark Kilgallon is currently the senior strength and conditioning coach at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland where he works in the sporting disciplines of cycling, handball, boxing, rowing and wheelchair basketball. Mark is also is the national lead for the Irish Senior women's hockey team.

Astrid Longhurst, author of the definitive and highly acclaimed book “Body Confidence” and Life Coach Columnist for one of Ireland’s premier health, living & wellbeing magazine “Glow” is also a contributor at the conference. Astrid is a Fitness & Body Image expert on the BBC series “Fighting Fit with Eastenders” and the BBC’s “The Weight of the Nation” in addition to the RTE’s “The Afternoon Show”.

Giovanni Sacco, a Les Mills Trainer and Presenter will deliver a workout based on the disciplines of yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates (BODYBALANCE™) as part of the morning session and in the afternoon will deliver a workshop on BODYCOMBAT™- a cardio workout based in the disciplines of karate, boxing and taekwondo.

One of the conference organisers, Teresa Richardson, outlined the motivation behind the event. “The FITTSport conference is now embedded in the annual diary of events in the Health and Leisure Department at the ITT. Since its inception in 2008, the conference has grown in popularity which is primarily attributable to the caliber of the presenters and relevance of the topics addressed. The conference is an ideal opportunity for the Institute staff and students to engage with practitioners and academics working in the area of sport and to share best practice and knowledge in an interactive forum”.

The conference commences at 9.15 am, concluding at 5pm. The full day delegate rate is €60 (including lunch). Bookings can be made by contacting Áine Brosnan at 066 71 91704.

For more information visit: www.ittralee.ie/fittsport2012