Bradford College

Sporting Legends Back 'Excellence for All'

World famous athlete Filbert Bayi flew in from Tanzania to attend the ‘Beyond 2012: Excellence for All Conference’, hosted in Keighley by the Bradford Athletics Network and backed by Bradford College.  Filbert Bayi won the gold medal for the 1500 m final at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, setting a new world record.  It is still classed as one of the greatest 1500 m races of all time.

Speaking on day one of the conference, Mr Bayi gave an inspirational presentation to conference participants and students on ‘International Benchmarking’.  Guests spoke of their delight at meeting the sporting legend, commenting on his motivational approach to sport – its advancement and its continued success.  Mr Bayi has spent years working tirelessly to promote sport and is the founder of the Filbert Bayi School in Tanzania, which forges links between Sport and Education.

The Beyond 2012 Conference is backed by Bradford College, along with other key stakeholders, keen to see the advancement of leadership and coaching in Sport.

‘Careers’ and ‘Expertise in Coaching’ was a major focus of the conference, with
Yuri Matischen, (Regional Chair, National Skills Academy For Sport & Active Leisure, Sheffield Sharks & Yorkshire Champion For Sport) delivering a talk on ‘Skilling Future Coaches.’

Delegates attending the two day conference had the opportunity to hear from yet another sporting legend, David Hemery CBE, 1968 Olympic Champion & former world record-holder, 400m hurdles. Sporting hero Mr Hemery delighted conference participants by delivering a talk on: ‘Coaching for Performance & Inspiration.’

During the two day conference, delegates had the opportunity to learn the secrets of successfully delivering high-quality coaching for all ages, abilities and sports disciplines. The conference was rounded off with a banquet held at Victoria Hall Keighley.  During the auspicious evening the audience heard an address from legendry Filbert Bayi and the Shay Grange’s Golfing Pro, who invited audience members on stage to score a hole in one – with a selection of prizes given out to the best golfer.

Following the success of the event, there are now plans in the pipeline to continue the annual conference, which has gone from strength to strength, year on year.

Speaking at the conference, Ronnie Todd, Directorate Project Manager said: “Bradford College is delighted to back ‘Beyond 2012: Excellence for All’.  Our vision for the future is to support Sport in the City of Bradford and beyond. We hope that our involvement in the two day conference will assist the advancement of Sport – Leadership and Coaching.  We believe it is important that events like this are supported by the local communities which they serve.”