In August 2013 the Sport Authority of Thailand travelled to England for a WAoS hosted Study Tour, providing them with a valuable learning environment to discuss world leading thoughts on event strategy and sport management.    

13 delegates from the Sport Authority of Thailand travelled to England for a Study Tour of London and Manchester. The key outcomes for the tour focused on participants gaining a better understanding of event legacy and sport pathways for athletes, from grass roots through to high performance programmes.

The tour visited a large number of destinations with the purpose of aiding attendees in achieving their goals. Visits included tours of the London 2012 Olympic Park, Manchester Sports City, the British Olympic Association and the English Institute of Sport where presentations were also made by senior management of each respective organisation. There were also visits to three of the country’s most prolific football clubs; Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge, Manchester City’s Etihad Campus and Manchester United’s world famous Theatre of Dreams.

Some of the topics on the agenda comprised of principles and processes involved in preparing athletes for major events in order to maximise performance and how major events hosted locally aid the regeneration and development of cities.

Speaking on her return to Thailand, Orasee Jayapoom, the Chief of Sports Personnel Development at International Level Section, reflected on the productivity of the tour.

“I'm so appreciative for the effort, the hospitality everybody has given us. We will now report the productive results to the Governor and Deputy Governor [of the Sport Authority of Thailand] and hope that the project may be continued for many years to come” she stated.

At the programmes conclusion, we asked the delegates in attendance to give us their feedback. From this, it was clear that the tour has been of great value to those involved with comments such as:

• “The highlight of the programme for me was how Manchester and London have been regenerated through sport.”
• “This is a good and effective programme because we can learn from real case studies and see real examples.”
• “[I have gained] new ideas for developing legacy, branding concepts of football clubs, how to implement them and how to manage brand development and value for sport organisations.”
• “A well planned study tour, full of insightful information.”
• “Very friendly”

Michael Cary, Director of Brand and IF Relations at WAoS, lead the tour and commented “we have worked with SAT for the past seven years and had close to 200 graduates from within the sport system there. It is a pleasure to now host them in the UK and bring to life many of the strategies and concepts we discuss throughout the programmes in Thailand.

“The UK has undergone radical advances in its sporting landscape this millennium starting with the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 through the amazing Olympic and Paralympic Games last year and future events such as Glasgow 2014. It is therefore a unique laboratory for the business and management of sport and we are overjoyed to host SAT as the first group to undertake a WAoS international study tour.”

For more information, please contact Michael Cary: [email protected]

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World Academy of Sport
The World Academy of Sport is the world’s leading educational partner to International Sporting Federations and their member constituents worldwide.

The Academy offers a wide range of educational programmes with a global reach for sport and event participants from athletes and event organizers to administrators and managers.

It has established specific education partner academies with International Sport Federations representing over 800 national federations, providing tailored education for their members.

Www.WorldAcademySport.Com or follow us on Twitter @WAoSport 

Sport Authority of Thailand

The Sport Authority of Thailand is a main principal office to develop the excellency and professional athletes to be the best be Asia. Their main aims include the nationwide promotion of sport, to provide support, help and advice in organizing and operating amateur athletics and to explore, build and restore amateur athletics in the country.   

www.sat.or.th