Invited Speakers
Jernej Kapus is an associate professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport, Slovenia. He holds a BSc degree in physical education, an MSc and a PhD degree in kinesiology. He is a module leader for swimming 1 and basic rescue techniques, for swimming 2 and school in nature with water activities. In addition to providing scientific support to a number of individual swimmers, Jernej has also provided scientific support to the Slovenian Swimming Association.
Jernej's research focuses primarily on respiratory limitations in swimming and methods to ameliorate them, including respiratory muscle training and training with reduced breathing. He has published widely in many scientific journals. In addition, his experts also deal with swimming didactics. He is the author of a website with video clips of many exercises, which is recognised as a useful tool for swimming instructors.
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Dr. Robert Schneider holds the title of Distinguished Service Professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport. He is the director of the sport management program at Brockport, which is ranked 14th in the United States (2017 College Choice National Ranking Service). In 2010 Dr. Schneider received the highest scholarship award granted from the State University of New York (SUNY) system of higher education: The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship/Creative Activity. His efforts have advanced sport management at universities, and sport-based organizations throughout the world. A frequent invited keynote speaker, Dr. Schneider’s scholarship primarily focuses on the versatility of sport management content and how it can align with, and meet university and sport industry goals. The author of several textbooks, Dr. Schneider’s most recent will be published in April of 2021 and is entitled, “Ethics of Sport and Athletics: Theory, Issues, and Application.” No less than, 90 publications and more than 150 presentations in over 30 different countries represent Dr. Schneider’s sport management based contributions to the literature. He also serves on over 20 advisory, editorial or guest editorial boards for international or national peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Schneider continues to accept speaking and consulting invitations where he interacts with university officials and leaders in sport organizations as part of his long-standing efforts to serve in helping institutions develop sport management programs that meet their needs.
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Dr. Predrag Bozic is currently the head of the Department for Motor Research and Sports Analytics at the Serbian Institute of Sport and Sports Medicine. With expertise in motor control and biomechanics, he has dedicated his career to researching the intricacies of the movement system, focusing on its function and capacities. His primary research interest lies in developing and evaluating methods for screening and assessing movement health, function, skill, and capacities. Dr. Bozic's work has been instrumental in helping athletes and individuals improve their movement function and performance levels. In addition to his role as a researcher, Dr. Bozic serves as an assistant editor for several respected scientific journals, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the field. He has also provided professional advice for load monitoring and fitness preparation, collaborating with various national sport federations and clubs. Dr. Bozic has been involved in numerous national and international research projects, and his contributions are evident through his publication of multiple articles in reputable scientific journals. Through his dedication to sports science, Dr. Predrag Bozic continues to make significant contributions to the field, positively impacting athletes, researchers, and sports enthusiasts alike.
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Hrvoje Ajman is an assistant professor at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of
Kinesiology Osijek, Croatia.
He holds an MSc degree in physical education and sport and a PhD degree in kinesiology.
He is a course teacher in basic kinesiological transformations and sports games, track and field, and
physical conditioning of children and young athletes.
He has been providing scientific support in the last 10 years to a number of young and adult athletes
through strength and conditioning programs.
Hrvoje's research focuses primarily on sports performance and physical activity of school-age children. He
has published papers in international and domain scientific journals.
In addition, his expertise is in football and futsal methodology.
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Dr. sc. Hrvoje Podnar is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb. His research is focused on promoting the health and physical activity of children and youth, particularly examining the relationship between physical activity and academic performance. He is also involved in designing a monitoring system for physical fitness aimed at improving the physical literacy of students. He is one of the leaders of an ERASMUS+ project whose goal is to design a platform for monitoring the physical fitness of students and providing meaningful feedback to enhance the physical literacy of children and youth. His research involves studying the prevalence of physical activity and sedentary behavior and designing and evaluating interventions to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior. He has published around 50 scientific and professional articles in domestic and international journals and conference proceedings. His contributions to the field of kinesiology also include assessing the activities of European sports organizations focused on implementing health-oriented physical activity programs in EU member states.
CloseToni Modric; born on 28th of January 1988, in Split, Croatia. In 2011, he graduated at
Faculty of Kinesiology University of Split, with specialization in “Strength & conditioning”,
and earned the title Master of Kinesiology. In 2022, he earned PhD title at Faculty of
Kinesiology, University of Split, with doctoral thesis entitled “Analysis elite-level soccer
players’ running performance using GPS technology; the influence of different factors on
performance and on success in soccer”.
During the study, he was twice awarded by Faculty of Kinesiology for excellent results
andgrades. He received the Deans and Rectors award, and was selected in top 100 best
students in Croatia in 2011. Recently, in 2022, he was awarded with “University Science
Award for Young Investigators” by University of Split.
For more than 20 years he is engaged in football (soccer), first as player and later as strength
& conditioning coach. During his 10-year professional career, he worked as first-team
strength & conditioning coach in many elite football clubs such as HNK Hajduk Split,
Galatasaray SK, Riga FC, Pafos FC, RNK Split, Kardemir Karabukspor, and in U-17
Croatian national team. Currently he works as teaching assistant at Faculty of Kinesiology at
University of Split. His main scientific interest is performance analysis in football. Up to
date, he published more than 30 papers in journals indexed in the Web of Science.
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Peter Bakalár is an associate professor at the University of Prešov, Faculty of Sports, Slovakia. He holds the master degree in Physical Education and Geography and doctoral degree in Sports Educology. He does participate in the implementation, development and quality assurance of the bachelor’s and master’s study programs Sport for Health and doctoral study program Sports Educology. He is member of the national and international teams of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, country leader for the development of the Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents within the Global Matrix project of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA), member of the Active Healthy Kids Spanish Network (REIAS), member of the steering committee of the European Outdoor Sports Campus of the European Network of Outdoor Sports (ENOS), member of the steering committee of the 10-Year Anniversary of the Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play, coordinator of the Erasmus+ Sport Collaborative Partnerships project Physical Activity-Related Injuries Prevention in Adolescents (PARIPRE), and member of the Active School project working group of the Ministry of Science, Research, Education and Sport of the Slovak Republic. In his research he is focusing on the physical activity promotion, especially in children and adolescents. He has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed and other publications.
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Zdenek Hamrik works as a head of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the Faculty of
Physical Culture at the Palacky University in Olomouc. He is also co-chair of the Physical Activity Focus
Group of the "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: WHO Collaborative Cross-National study". His
scientific interests are focused on leisure time, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and policies and
strategies supporting an active lifestyle
In 2014 he become a national coordinator of the Czech National Action Plan on Physical Activity under
“Health 2020” - National Strategy on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Ministry of Health in
the Czech Republic.
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