Dressage Canada Hosts High Performance Summit

Dressage Canada will host a High Performance Summit March 11-12, 2013 to focus on the sport in Canada – highlighting international performance success objectives for the future.

The Summit, hosted in Florida as a cost effective measure, will engage over 60 high performance stakeholders to start the planning process for the future direction of the program. The time and location was critical in assembling such a large group together for the first time in over 10 years.

Funded, in part, by Own the Podium (OTP), Dressage Canada has invited key stakeholder groups representing athletes, owners, officials, coaches, integrated support team experts, supporters and team support personnel. Facilitating the two-day Summit will be Peter Davis, PhD, an expert in high performance strategic planning and program development, was the director of Sport Sciences, Sports Medicine and Technology for OTP for the 2006 and 2008 Summer Games and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Dr. Davis is the director and founder of Sport Performance Management and consults globally with national Olympic committees and national sports ministries in the Untied States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

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Presenters at the Summit include former chairman of British Dressage (1997-2007) and president of the British Horse Society (2007-2011), Desi Dillingham, who continues to be the vice president of British Dressage and is a trustee for the British Equestrian Fed Fund. Also presenting will be Julie Healy, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Manager of Team Services. Healy is also the former director of Female Hockey at Hockey Canada. Healy carried out the program which resulted in Gold for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Games.

Teammates from Canada’s bronze medal winning dressage team from the 1988 Olympics, will also discuss their international success and what it took to win an Olympic medal, while Dressage Canada Committee members Sarah Bradley, Dressage Canada chair, Michael Horgan, chair of Finance and Fundraising Committee; and Liz Steacie, the Athletes Council High Performance Committee representative will also address the Summit attendees.

“The Dressage High Performance Summit is intended to bring together stakeholders from across the dressage high performance community, so they can discuss directions and provide substantial input in developing the future of our high performance programs,” says Bradley. “Dr. Peter Davis has been working with Dressage Canada to design two days of work, in several broad topic areas, which stakeholders have identified as areas for discussion. This summit will form the basis for our high performance program going forward, and we are very pleased that so many people are offering their time and expertise in taking part.”

The Summit discussion points will include:

• youth talent identification and team building for long-term success,
• tours, competitions and international credibility,
• resource acquisition and sustainability,
• athlete management,
• high performance targets and evaluations,
• building relationships,
• leadership

“The High Performance Summit, supported in part by Own the Podium, is an opportunity to bring together key stakeholders from across the country to collaborate, problem solve and build support, trust and communication,” Christine Peters, Manager Dressage, Equine Canada. “This intense two day program will encourage the exchange of ideas and the development of programs which will increase not only the level of knowledge and performance of our athletes, but provide them with the necessary opportunities and support to put Canada back on the podium at future Olympic Games.”

An update on the outcomes of the summit will be communicated following the event.