Dear ISSP members and all sport psychology community.
Spring has arrived with considerable activity. People are being inoculated worldwide, albeit at varying speeds. The Olympics is progressing and several members in the ISSP, our Managing Council, and I, will be in attendance, supporting aspiring athletes during a highly complicated Olympic experience. Even broader, the world of sport and activity has continued to thrive, though quite differently when compared to pre-covid times.
This is an exciting year for the ISSP. We have a congress scheduled September 30 to October 04, 2021. The congress organizing committee, led by Dr. Yu-Kai Chang is working hard on the logistics of a hybrid offering. We are still uncertain what this Fall will look like in terms of physically traveling to Taipei. We understand that your plans are fluid in terms of form of attendance, whether in person or virtual. However, rest assured, this congress will go on, drawing upon both platforms to ensure we deliver a high-quality global congress as promised. The keynotes have all confirmed their attendance in one format or another. We will know more within the coming month, though some have already confirmed they wish to present from a distance, virtually. Some hope to be onsite, pending inoculations and entry from the host government. The abstract submission deadline is May 03, 2021, so please keep the date in mind when developing your submission(s). Notification from the organizing committee will then be the first week of June, 2021.
We have also been busy planning for our next ISSP election. There will be openings, and should you wish to run for a Managing Council spot, please contact Past President Dr. Gangyan Si at gangyans@hksi.ork.hk . There are candidates seeking re-election, progression to the executive, and reinstatement. These are all open and transparent processes within this society. One key point is that people seeking nomination require someone to nominate and someone to second from the ISSP active membership.
The International Journal of Sport and exercise Psychology is also ascending as a scientific and yet, practical outlet. We are gaining increasing numbers of publications from a vast number of countries on topics that span the field. Reflecting this growth in submission, we have a full compliment of section editors, several of whom are newcomers to the journal. We have also expanded our editorial board with a balance of experts recruited by our section editors. The growth in our editorial board will improve upon current efficiencies within manuscript oversight and also in terms of effective feedback. The IJSEP is also now actively supporting open science, where authors who wish to share their data, can do so. We leave this decision to each contributing authorship.
The ISSP Registry and Supervisor’s Calls are both open at present for new applicants to our registry, until April 15, 2021. We had a previous call with seventeen inductees from various countries, listed at the webpage focused on the ISSP-R. We are now expanding the process to established and general stream applicants to the ISSP-R. The ISSP-S (supervisor) designation is also open. The accreditation committee is actively welcoming candidates to apply. Please visit issponline.org for more information on this exciting step for the society and for you!
Rest assured the ISSP is working actively for you. New benefits will be announced shortly. Should you have any further questions, you can always write me directly at rschinke@laurentian.ca . Wishing you a safe Spring, 2021.
Robert Schinke
President of the International Society of Sport Psychology