By Emily Goddard

Alessia Trost is to speak at the 2014 SportAccord International Convention ©Getty ImagesMarch 17 - Alessia Trost, the Italian high jumper who won a silver medal at the Singapore 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games, is set to feature on a special "Youth Club" conference panel at the 2014 SportAccord International Convention.

The session, which will take place as part of the main event at the Susesi Convention Centre in the Turkish city of Belek on April 6 until 11, will mark the first time that the SportAccord International Convention will include a conference panel composed of young people from sport and media.

Hungarian Olympic swimmer Katinka Hosszú and British Paralympic rower Megan Harris, as well as a representative from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) young reporters programme, will also be among the panellists who will debate what they do and do not like about sport.

Andy Miah, head of the Creative Futures Institute at the University of the West of Scotland, has advised on the content for discussion and will moderate the interactive session.

Katinka Hosszú will feature on the "Youth Club" conference panel at the 2014 SportAccord International Convention ©Getty ImagesKatinka Hosszú will feature on the "Youth Club" conference panel at the 2014 SportAccord International Convention ©Getty Images


"With the average age of television viewers of the Olympics reaching 50, and similar trends in other established sports events, having a better understanding of the younger generation is a matter of survival," he said.

"Sports in the future will be watched on the move using wearable devices, we will play sports in virtual worlds, and they may even involve contests between human cyborgs.

"So much is about to change and we really need to figure out what to protect, so that sports continue to be important in the 21st and 22nd centuries.

"The Youth Club will be about what young people really want from sport, what sports they are participating in and watching, how they're consuming them and what inspires them to switch on a sport or skip it.

"It's going to be frank, informative and fun."

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