PAPA team inaugural meeting in Marrakesh!

The International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) congress, in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, provided an ideal opportunity for the PAPA team to officially toast the start of the PAPA project. PAPA delegates took a welcome break from the gaze of the North African sun to meet and discuss project activities for the coming months. The PAPA team gathered in an opulent dining room decorated with striking Arabic furnishings. Live Moroccan folk music opened the scene for a lively evening of PAPA-related conversation and discussion. In keeping with their surrounds, the team enjoyed a banquet of beautifully prepared local delicacies, and raised a glass (of mango juice!) to celebrate the beginning of this exciting project.

The ISSP is a multidisciplinary organization with a focus on promoting sport psychology research, practice and development throughout the world. The congress is held every four years when sport psychologists from the world over gather to listen to keynote talks from world leaders in sport psychology research. The congress also provides a forum for researchers to disseminate their work. Professor Howard Hall, from York St John University’s PAPA group, was an invited key note speaker at the 2009 congress. Other partners presented their research at the congress in symposia, oral and poster communications. The next ISSP congress will take place at Beijing Sport University in China in 2013.