The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) board of directors announced CEO and director general Henry Storgaard would be stepping down from his role within the organization effective Jan. 18.

“I have enjoyed being part of a growing organization filled with passionate and inspiring individuals,” Storgaard said in a press release. “I personally look forward to new opportunities and challenges within sport, but Paralympic athletes will always have a special place in my heart.”

Storgaard was praised by CPC president David Legg, who will be stepping into the role on a temporary basis until the position is filled full-time.

“Henry has led the organization towards great heights and the Paralympic community is very grateful for it,” said Legg. “His leadership, passion and resilience in guiding CPC through the past Paralympic quadrennial has positioned it well for the future.”

Since joining the organization in 2009, Storgaard has helped oversee a positive transition. He helped lead the CPC from a $1-million deficit to an annual budget of $9.4 million with a $1.3 million reserve fund, according to the release.

Team Canada flourished at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Paralympics, securing a record 19 medals — including 10 gold — and finishing a best-ever third in total medals. Canada placed 20th overall in total medals at the London Games this past summer.

A search for Storgaard’s permanent replacement will commence at the end of January, with the committee hoping to have the job filled by April.

Storgaard began his extensive career in sport as marketing director of the Canadian Ski Association. He’s worked on several major sporting events including the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and Canada Games.

British Cycling and its Principal Partner Sky will join Europe’s leading Future Sponsorship Conference in Istanbul, pills which takes places from 28-29 November 2012. 

Stewart Kellett, British Cycling’s Recreation and Partnerships Director and Tricia Thompson, Sky’s Director of Cycling, will be taking part in the two day conference, presenting together on their successful partnership as part of the session ‘Getting Creative with Strong, Successful Activation Techniques and More Innovative Ways to Drive Revenue.’

Following cycling’s greatest ever summer with 16 gold medals in London, the first British winner of the Tour de France and Sky and British Cycling’s recent announcement that they have beaten their goal of getting one million more Britons on their bikes and cycling regularly by 2013, the presentation will explore how Sky has worked with British Cycling to turn a traditional sponsorship into a unique partnership and discuss initiatives such as the ‘Inspiration to Participation’ vision and how this will affect the sponsorship model going forward.

British Cycling’s Director of Recreation and Partnerships, Stewart Kellett, said:

“British Cycling and Sky have a unique relationship that has delivered unprecedented levels of success for the sport leveraging Olympic, Paralympic and international success to support a campaign to get one million more people on a bike and to have a British winner of the Tour De France. We are looking forward to telling our joint story of success, brand building and employee engagement.” 

Supported by host partners, Turkish Airlines and Euroleague Basketball, Future Sponsorship will address the major challenges in the sponsorship world and will gather high level brands, rights holders and agencies to shape the future of the sponsorship industry.  

Other top speakers signed up to the anticipated event include Jordi Bertemou, CEO, Euroleague Basketball, Temel Kotil, CEO, Turkish Airlines, Michael Payne, IOC’s Former Marketing Director, Michael Payne, Sally Hancock, Director of Olympic Marketing and Sponsorship, Lloyds TSB, Ragip Balciogu, MD, Beko UK, Norman Brodie, General Manager, Cadburys London 2012, Paul Samuels,Senior Vice President of AEG Global Partnerships, Europe and Christian Struck, Director of International Brand Management, Grundig AG.

The programme will address a host of critical topics including market projections and trends, tapping into growth markets and effective growth strategies for marketing overseas.  We will see brands and rights holders share expertise from China, Brazil, Europe and the Middle East, as well as insights from Turkey on their plans and ambitions to grow its sports culture. 

Other sessions will include presentations, case studies and panel debates on dealing with problem messages in CSR, looking at successful and not so successful sponsorships from the UEFA Euros and the Olympics, discussing the true value of sponsorship to brands on a panel.  Discussions will also take place around music festival and entertainment sponsorship and the future of the industry – sports, media and entertainment.  

To register interest in Future Sponsorship 2012 go to www.future-sponsorship.com

Joanna Manning-Cooper has been named the new Communications & Marketing Director of England Rugby 2015, allergy the organisers of Rugby World Cup 2015.

The new position will be part of the ER2015 leadership team and will be responsible for ticketing and volunteering campaigns, hospital promoting the tournament, pilule managing the ER2015 brand, implementation of the Rugby World Cup brand, media relations, running the press office and coordinating press operations.

Joanna Manning-Cooper has 20 years of integrated communications and media experience, including six-and-a-half years at LOCOG, where she was Head of Public Relations and Media, responsible for global PR and media activity to promote the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Prior to LOCOG, she was director of global communications for the Financial Times.

Debbie Jevans, Chief Executive of ER 2015, said: “We want Rugby World Cup 2015 in England to be the best World Cup ever. With less than 1,000 days to go to the tournament we are strengthening our senior team, and Joanna has been appointed following a competitive recruitment process for this important new role within the ER 2015 leadership team.

“Joanna did an exceptional job for London 2012, and her skills and experience in major sporting events will be a great asset as we promote Rugby World Cup 2015 to the world.”

The Sports Journalists’ Association of Great Britain (SJA) is delighted to announce The National Lottery as headline sponsor of this year’s SJA British Sports Awards, being staged at the Tower of London on Thursday, December 6.

“It has been possibly the greatest year in the history of British sport, a year when the SJA’s members have been busier than ever reporting on or photographing Grand Slam victories, European Cup wins and Major successes” said Sir Michael Parkinson, the SJA President. 

“The SJA is absolutely thrilled therefore to join forces with The National Lottery which has been a fundamental part in the transformation of British sport, helping to deliver so many Olympic and Paralympic medals, and is now joining us for the celebration of the sporting year at our British Sports Awards on December 6th.”

First staged in 1949, the SJA British Sports Awards is the oldest event of its kind in this country, and this year promises to be the most glittering and golden ever staged.

Andy Duncan, Managing Director of Camelot UK Lotteries Limited, added: “We are delighted to lend our support to the Sports Journalists’ Association’s British Sports Awards. This has been a year of stunning British sporting success – none more so than at London 2012, where almost nine out of 10 of the Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes selected had benefited from National Lottery funding. 

“Our players have been supporting elite sport in the UK since 1997 and the difference this has made isn’t hard to see. Team GB came home from the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 in 36th place in the medal table, with just a solitary gold medal. This year, Team GB had its most successful Games in over 100 years, finishing third in the medal table with 65 medals, 29 of which were gold – while ParalympicsGB won 120 medals, including 34 golds, to beat its Beijing haul of 102 medals. 

“We are therefore proud to partner with the Sports Journalists’ Association, whose members do so much to capture and bring to life these iconic sporting moments for us all to enjoy.”

Sky have looked to appease the fans by announcing that they will make highlights of this winter’s Ashes series available on free-to-air television for the first time.

Action from the day will be available throughout the winter on the channel Pick, accessible on Sky channel 152, Freeview, Virgin Media and Freesat.

England are aiming for a fourth consecutive Ashes success and viewers will be able to catch a comprehensive one-hour highlight package aired at 10pm following each day’s play.

This service will also extend to the one-day international and T20 series Down Under.

Pick channel director Stephen Ladlow said: “We are delighted to be able to showcase such a huge sporting event on Pick for our viewers. The Ashes is always compelling viewing and making the highlights available on Pick will give many more homes the opportunity to get a daily dose of Sky’s outstanding cricket coverage.”

Thomas Dieckhoff has been appointed the new World Triathlon Corporation’s (WTC) President for Europe, apoplectic Middle East and South Africa.

Dieckhoff joins Ironman brand owner WTC after holding management positions at Japan’s Kao Corporation and Procter & Gamble.

He will manage all of WTC’s activities in the aforementioned regions together with Kai Walter, WTC’s Managing Director of International Operations Europe at the new WTC headquarters in Hanau, Germany.

“Athletes see things from a different perspective. That’s the mind-set I want to bring to my job at WTC”, said Dieckhoff who has a 25-year career in consumer and marketing relations to bring to the role.

He added, “Our European races show an incredible degree of professionalism and this is a road I definitely want to continue walking down together with our management team and Ironman European staff.”

At the same time Dieckhoff is looking forward to expanding WTC’s business opportunities… “Triathlon has a lot of growth potential and racing in an Ironman event is every triathlete’s ultimate goal. Our emphasis will be on creating a sustainable growth strategy that focuses on our athletes’ demands – no matter if they are pros or age-groupers. Athletes can look forward to great new races in the short- and medium-term.”

Kai Walter, who will continue to manage the operational side of WTC’s European races is looking forward to working with a new team member on-board. Walter said, “Thomas is an excellent addition to our team and has proven to be a true leader. His knowledge and experience will help us to improve the quality of existing and new races alike.”

Soccerex is delighted to announce two specially tailored workshops, nurse focusing on the Base Camps and the Host Cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup^TM, at this year’s Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro on 24-28 November.

A vital part of any tournament is where teams are located throughout their stay in the host country. It is a crucial decision to make with a variety of issues affecting the team’s choice such as distance to group matches, altitude, climate, training facilities, accommodation and even the type of grass, as well as the debate between an urban or rural setting. The ‘Base Camp’ workshop will provide a three-tiered approach covering all the key decision making groups: firstly World Cup winning legends Juliano Belletti and Carlos Alberto Parreira will provide a player’s perspective, reliving their own World Cup base camp stories. They will then be followed by federation representatives including English FA General Secretary Alex Horne, to discuss the issues in selecting the right base camp for the benefit of the team. Finally Ivor Hoff, Chief Director of Sport for Gauteng Province during the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM, will provide an expert analysis on his experience of working for a base camp city and what Brazil can learn from South Africa.

With 12 Brazilian host cities confirmed for the 2014 FIFA World Cup^TM, teams will be competing all over the country in different conditions and challenges, making it the biggest in the history of the competition. All 12 host cities have been invited to the Convention, where a debate will take place on the commercial opportunities remaining for the host cities, as well the opportunities for them during the World Cup and after the tournament has finished.  It will provide an exclusive chance to hear from key city representatives from host cities including Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador and São Paulo.

The two workshops will be a part of a world class conference programme which will once again set the footballing agenda, with sessions tackling goal line technology, player ownership and transfers, sports rights, player development and a number of exclusive sessions with legends.

The Soccerex Global Convention is a five-day business event consisting of a comprehensive seminar line-up, a number of networking opportunities, a two-day football festival and a packed exhibition which is already close to selling out.

Held in a purpose-built venue within the Forte de Copacabana, with panoramic views of both the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the exhibition is a hub for business activity; as one of the main components of the convention it provides a platform for leading suppliers from around the world to showcase the latest industry products and services to delegates.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208742 7100 or visit www.soccerex.com/global.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have announced a new four-year broadcast rights deal with sports media company PERFORM to deliver live and on-demand coverage of England’s home international matches to fans in North America and the Caribbean.

The deal will see live and on-demand content made available to viewers across a number of devices, purchase including Connected TV, PC, mobile and tablet, beginning with the NatWest T20 international against Sri Lanka on May 20 2014 in a summer that includes Investec Test Series against Sri Lanka and India, ten Royal London ODIs and a NatWest T20 against India. The deal runs until 2017 and therefore includes the Investec Ashes Series in 2015, as well as England Women’s and Lions matches.

David Collier, Chief Executive of ECB, said: “It is important for us to continue to increase the England cricket team’s global reach. The broadcasting agreements for the next contractual cycle will see an overall increase in revenues compared with the previous four-year period and this uplift owes much to the efforts of our commercial team. We are delighted to further develop our relationship with PERFORM who have been instrumental in our expansion of digital content.”

PERFORM has been ECB’s digital partner since 2010, streaming match and session highlights of international and domestic cricket through its ePlayer platform. The two organisations also collaborated in the live online streaming of the NatWest ODI between England Women and Australia Women in the 2013 Women’s Ashes Series, hosted on ECB’s YouTube channel.

Oliver Slipper, Joint-CEO at PERFORM, added: “We have formed a strong working relationship with ECB since our first agreement together in 2010 and are delighted to extend this partnership to deliver coverage to a North American, Canadian and Caribbean audience. As we continue to build on our success in providing live online coverage of the world’s biggest sporting competitions, we look forward to enabling cricket fans across the globe to watch England sides in action.”