President's Update - Happy Holidays

Greetings to everyone!

As International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) President, I am delighted to share with you that in the year of 2015, we hosted Winter Deaflympics in Khanty-Mansiysk and Magnitogorsk. This sporting event was an unforgettable and memorable event for many of us around the world. We are thrilled that the Winter Deafympics will continue to take place for many years to come, despite of past cancelled Deaflympics. I now truly believe Winter Deaflympics will go on as always.

Also, the ICSD Congress was held in Khanty-Mansiysk just prior to the Winter Deaflympics. The delegates, ICSD Executive Board and I had exchanged valuable viewpoints, discussed plans for the future of Deaf sports. The Congress had made satisfying progresses and I wanted to thank them for their time and effort.

At the end of October, ICSD Board members, staff and technical directors went to Samsun, Turkey for the 1st venue inspection for the preparation of the 2017 Summer Deaflympics. We all discussed important issues: planning and integration planning of such a huge event. After having inspected the venues, most of ICSD’s technical directors reported that they are satisfied with the Organizing Committee (OC) plan at this stage in preparation for hosting the Summer Deaflympics in Samsun. I want to thank all ICSD technical directors who came to Samsun, for their inspection effort.

I am also pleased to share that ICSD hosted 7 World Deaf Championships in 2015. First, I want to mention one of 7 the World Deaf Championships in 2015 was the World Deaf Basketball Championships in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Second, the 4th World Deaf Badminton Championships and the 1st World Deaf Youth Badminton Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Third, the 3rd World Deaf Bowling Championships in Bologna, Italy.

Fourth, the World Deaf Orienteering Championships in Rochester, New York, USA.

Fifth, the World Deaf Swimming Championships in Texas, USA.

Sixth, in Bangkok, Thailand - the Deaf Futsal World Cup.

And finally, the World Deaf Tennis Championships at Nottingham Tennis Centre in Great Britain. I want to give special thanks to these countries for hosting the world championships.

As you may be aware, ICSD has opened a new office in Lausanne, Switzerland. Prior to getting a space for ICSD office at Mansion du Sport International (MSI), we had a thorough discussions with the Department of Property of Lausanne City. Now we can start working in the office near the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which is just a few blocks away from our office at MSI. One of the main reasons to have the office in Lausanne, is to get acquainted and work very closely with IOC. We both will still need to work together and develop understanding of the goals for Deaflympics. As for the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between IOC and ICSD, we have decided to postpone the date until March as there are more documents that require detailed review. I think it is a wise decision for both organizations to work closely together and review all specifics before signing the MoU.

I would like to invite all ICSD Executive Board members to participate in this important event. All countries with interested members are welcome to join at your own expenses. I believe that the signing MoU between IOC and ICSD is extremely significant for the future of Deaf sports. Mr. Thomas Bach, IOC President, and Mr. Kit McConnell, IOC Sports Director, are pleased to be working with us and getting acquainted with ICSD during our extensive collaborations in the recent years.

We all need to work together as a team.

By doing this together, we will take Deaf sports to the next level. It’s very important for us to be united and achieve our goal!

I have finished sharing important information with you.

Now, I wish all of you good health and prosperity in the coming 2016!

On behalf of the ICSD, I hope that the year of 2016 will be a good year and I wish you happy holidays!

Thank you!