President’s Message Autumn, 2021

Dear Members of the International Society of Sport Psychology. I first wish to welcome you to a new four-year cycle of the ISSP. We have just completed our World Congress, with tremendous support and capacity provided by the Local Organizing Committee, located in Taipei. I wish to thank Dr. Yu-Kai Chang, his colleagues from the Taiwanese Society of Sport Psychology, his students, and all supporters, both financial and time committed to a successful endeavour. The 2021 ISSP Congress included seven well-received keynotes, with speakers representing four continents. Furthering the international scope of the Congress were award recipients, who were also invited speakers, representing further international breadth. There are few things more important to this society than having a world-wide membership of diverse voices, thoughts, and ways of knowing and doing.

Within the Congress program, it was announced the next World Congress will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2025. The next local organizing committee has already begun its work in partnership with the newly appointed ISSP Managing Council. In advance of the Congress, Dr. Richard Ryan has already agreed to speak about the intersection of positive living and its foundational tenets in Greek ancestral knowledge.

The previous Managing Council needs to be recognized for its hard work, and the momentous changes the society has undergone in the areas of our world-wide ISSP Registry, multiple world think-tanks, series of ambassadorial projects into Africa and South America, the launch of the ISSP Fellows designation, and finally, the mercurial rise of the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, as several examples of our commitment to the membership.

Departing members Past President Gangyan Si, Thomas Schack, Artur Poczwardowski, Hiroshi Sekiya, Athan Amasiatu, Jolly Roy, Lauren Loberg, and Daniel Gucciardi, are owed a debt of gratitude for their continued support over the previous term. These contributing members to the Managing Council have helped reposition the ISSP into a society that is seeking to be more inclusive and engaged with its membership. They have now passed that baton to a new Managing Council, with established members and new lifeblood.

I will continue to serve as your President four more years, as YoungHo Kim (S. Korea) and Tatiana Ryba (Finland) will also continue in the Executive Committee along with Chris Harwood (Great Britain), who will continue to oversee our ISSP Registry, Yu-Kai Chang (Taiwan), our new Treasurer, and Franco Noce (Brazil), our new Secretary General. Among the Members at Large, please welcome Alberto Cei (Italy), Kazutoshi Kudo (Japan), Nikos Comoutos (Greece), Richard Keegan (Australia), Zhijian Huang (China), Alessandro Quartiroli (United States), Kristoffer Henriksen (Denmark), Rebecca Wong (Malaysia), and Tshepang Tshube (Botswana).

Within the coming four-years we commit to growing the International Journal of Sport and exercise Psychology into the stature it should be. Already this year, submissions have increased exponentially, year over year, to the point where submissions have necessitated a bi-monthly release and increase in pagination within each release. The ISSP-R is also taking root and promises to become a globally recognized stamp of competence for practitioners, worldwide. As it now stands, there are ISSP-R recipients from eighteen countries, with more soon to be conferred in its inaugural year.

There are too many opportunities to list in a single presidential message. However, what I do hope to convey is our organizational structure will continue to open to you, our membership. We are looking actively for people to step into our committees and help with Emerging Countries Projects, the ISSP-R, the Cultural Committee, and more, found at our societal website (see https://www.issponline.org/index.php/issp/organizational-structure ). Also found at the website, open to members, is our YouTube Channel, where all the keynotes and content from this past week’s world congress is available to watch and consider.

In short, this new Managing Council pledges to carry forward the execution of its duties, and to further your return on investment as a member of the International Society of Sport Psychology. Please further your engagement and encourage your colleagues, as there is a place for all professionals and aspiring sport psychology enthusiasts in the ISSP.

See here the Presidential Address By Robert Schinke during the XV World Congress in Taiwan

Robert Schinke
President of the International Society of Sport Psychology