Plenary one – Welcome to the 34th annual conference
Marc Woods, chair, Chartered Institute for Management of Sport and Physical Activity
Marc began by welcoming everyone to the conference, and then delivered the inspirational and humorous story – Path to Gold – of his life, attitude and drive to succeed despite a serious disability.
Marc was diagnosed with cancer at age seventeen, which lead to the amputation of his left leg below the knee. After surgery, Marc, a county swimmer, was soon swimming quicker with the one leg than he previously did with two.
It was his ambition to be the best. Within eighteen months of ending chemotherapy Marc would represent Great Britain at the Paralympic Games. He went on to complete another four Games and won 12 medals.
Marc’s presentation included video clips of two relay swimming races he participated in with three disabled team mates. In the first, the team finished second to the German team by a tiny fraction of a second. This loss, albeit tinged with silver success, drove Marc and his team to be better. Indeed, in the second video the team smashed the world record finishing in first place well ahead of the German team.
Though the story suggests personal ambition, drive and success, it extends to include the swimmers’ support team without whom their success in the pool could not be achieved. Marc emphasised that success requires everyone to focus and work together.
Marc’s story, which prompted several rounds of appreciative applause, resonated with attendees some of whom as conference speakers included elements in their own presentations.
“This year I felt I gained a lot of personal development rather than just payroll development, and I really felt lifted by this.”
Sarah Welch FCIPP, HR business partner – payroll and HR systems, Total Gas and Power
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ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 2018
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