Sports Minister Visits EIS On The Ground
Sports Minister Visits EIS On The Ground
by Rebecca Lee 10.02.09
The Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe, visited the English Institute of Sport (EIS) at Sportscity last week, 5th February, speaking with practitioners on the ground about their roles working within high performance sport.
Joining the Minister were EIS National Director Conor O’Shea, Regional Director Peter Elliott and Performance Operations Manager Andy Harrison, who discussed the opportunities and challenges ahead to the London 2012 Games.
Seeing behind the scenes of some of the sports science team working in Manchester, Sutcliffe got to see some of the physiology team in action, undertaking testing with some of the cyclists in the lab and also got to meet the performance analysis team who were able to show their work with a number of sports.
Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe said:
“Sports science practitioners play a vital role in improving the performance of our elite sportsmen and women. Just a hundreth of a second can make the difference between a gold and silver medal, and the EIS are there to ensure that the athletes they work with stay out in front.
"The job takes a great deal of skill and commitment and it was fascinating to see first-hand the work they do on the ground. As we head towards London 2012, EIS practitioners will be more in demand than ever and I wish them all well in rising to the challenge of helping to secure Olympic and Paralympic success for Britain.”
EIS National Director Conor O’Shea was delighted the Sports Minister was able to get a glimpse of the world class work being done at the EIS.
“It has been a pleasure to show Gerry some of the people behind the scenes of our top performing athletes and sports” said O’Shea. “Whilst there will be changes ahead for many of our sports and practitioners, their dedication and commitment shone through during the visit and as plans are set for the coming years over the next few weeks with sports, the momentum will continue to build leading into the next Olympic cycle.” he added.