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Dr Simon Walters Announced as Key Note Speaker at Dressage NZ Conference

Dressage NZ is very pleased to advise that Dr Simon Walters will be the key note speaker at the 2019 Dressage Conference

Simon has a wide sport research experience involving many of the aspects currently topical in Equestrian Sports. Simon also has an involvement in equestrian sports being an “ equestrian parent” himself  

If you “google” Simon, you can read about many of the interesting sport projects he has been involved with and you can get some insights into his findings.

Dr Simon Walters, Head of Coaching, Health and Physical Education (HPE), School of Sport and Recreation, AUT.

Qualifications: PhD (AUT), MSc (University of Leicester), Further and Adult Education Teaching Certificate (University of Wales), B.Hum (Joint Hons) (University of London)

University links: http://www.aut.ac.nz/profiles/sport-recreation/senior-lectures/simon-walters

Current research projects:  Coach and player attitudes to sporting injury; Early specialisation, training volumes and musculoskeletal injury in youth athletes in New Zealand; Athlete development pathways to elite performance; Dropout and burnout in sport; The effects of adult involvement on young people’s experiences of sport; Creating positive sporting experiences for young people; The accessibility of sport and fitness centres for people with disabilities; ACC and New Zealand Rugby Concussion Awareness and Education projects.

 

Overview: Simon leads the Sports Coaching and HPE teams in the School of Sport and Recreation at AUT, with his main area of applied research focused on enhancing young people’s experiences of organised sport and enhancing parent and coach awareness of the benefits of ‘free play’. Initially interested in areas that promoted coach and parent awareness of how to create optimal experiences for young people in sport, his more recent research interests have focused on some of the issues associated with ‘early specialisation’. Simon completed his PhD in 2012, and is currently supervising 10 postgraduate students all studying under the broad umbrella of youth development. He is a member of the International Play Association, and sat on the Steering Group for the Sport NZ funded project Good Sports, implemented by Aktive Auckland Sport and Recreation.