New Years Message
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23.11.96
IDSF President Hegemann's New Year Message
The IOC's provisional recognition has given the International Dance Sport Federation a big impetus. The number of countries whose Dance Sport Associations are members of IDSF has increased to 65. The number our member associations who are also members of their National Olympic Committees has increased to 28, and many additional countries are in promising negotiations.
The IDSF General Meeting, which we were able to hold this year in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, was an impressive display of unity within the world governing body of amateur dance sport. The welcoming speech, delivered by Gilbert Felli, IOC Sports Director, was a special recognition of our sport. and of our united accomplishments. We will translate his encouraging words into actions.
These positive developments have also had a positive effect on the activities of our national dance sport member associations, whose numbers are growing steadily in terms of membership and competitors. The upswing in dance sport is particularly fats in Eastern Europe and also in Asia. Not only the quantity, but the quality of dance sport has been elevated, as shown by the record entries in the European and World Championships in Standard, Latin and Formation, where entries of 80 couples from 43 nations underlined the continuing positive trend. Around the world more than one million athletes compete in dance sport.
As we approach the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all the dance sport men and women within the IDSF. This applies particularly to active competitors of all standards for their intensive and untiring training, which led to such admirable performances at the highest levels. It applies to all those trainers who look after our competitors and enable them to perform at such high levels. It applies to all our member associations and their officials, who volunteer their services to clubs and organizers, and who organize the huge number of dance sport competitions up to European and World championship level, which give our competitors the opportunity to measure their performance in national and international competition.
A also want to heartily thank the international dance sport press, which makes very positive reports about our sport, especially our official IDSF magazine, "the International News", with its global reporting of the big events, and its publication of the aims and tasks of the IDSF. I extend my thanks to the publisher and editors of "Dance News", the most important dance sport paper in the English speaking countries world-wide, which always provides space for our thoughts and reports.
When , in 1997, we stage the spectator attractive dance sport at the World Games in Lathi, Finland, we surely commence a new era, which will take us a great step forward to our aim of participation in the Olympic Games.
With these thinks in mind, I wish you all a healthy and successful 1997.
Detlef Hegemann
President IDSF
Back to IDSF press release index 1997
