BMC member and longstanding volunteer Colin Knowles has been elected as Secretary General of the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s European Council Board.

Colin was put forward for the role by the BMC, and won a contested election with a vote of 14-5 held at the Plenary Assembly of IFSC Europe in Lithuania on 25 May. He will now attend meetings of the Executive Board of IFSC Europe, which comprises seven members (President; Secretary General; Vice President Sport; three Board members; Athletes’representative) and is responsible for implementing all the policy directives and decisions made by the Plenary Assembly. The Board meets at least twice a year.

The role of Secretary General is voluntary and is an IFSC role, not a BMC role on the IFSC, but Colin’s election is good news in terms of the UK’s level of influence within the IFSC.

Further information about IFSC Europe and the European Council Board

Colin has been attending IFSC Plenary Assemblies on behalf of the BMC since former President, Rehan asked him to. Colin has attended Plenary Assemblies held in Quebec, Innsbruck, Tokyo and more recently Vilnius.

Following his election to the IFSC Europe Executive as Secretary-General, Colin Knowles said:

“First of all I would like to thank the BMC for supporting my candidature. I stood on a clear platform of Improvement within IFSC Europe – Improvement in administration, Improvement in governance – and so I would like to also thank all those member federations that supported me on the basis of that platform.

“IFSC Europe faces a number of challenges – the forthcoming Olympics and the potential for involvement in Paris 2024 are obvious enough. What we are seeing Europe-wide is an increasing number of athletes entering competitions. To meet this challenge we will need to develop a new annual pattern of competitions, as well as a robust and widely supported ranking system. This will enable us to encourage member federations to run regional-level second-tier competitions for those athletes who are just below elite standard. These developments will be a defining mark of the coming period.

“To tackle these challenges we need an efficient administrative setup, and we need regular and effective communications with our member federations. This is what I am setting out to achieve. We also need to consider how best IFSC Europe should tackle the urgent question of the climate impact of our activities. Last but not least I believe we must build a strong relationship with the UIAA.”

We want to say a big thanks to every BMC member who continues to support us through the Coronavirus crisis.

From weekly Facebook Lives and GB Climbing home training videos, to our access team working to re-open the crags and fight for your mountain access, we couldn’t do it without you.

Did you know that we've launched a U27 membership offer for just £1.50 / month? And with full membership from £2.50 / month, it's never been easier to join and support our work: 

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/join-the-bmc-for-1-month-U27-membership

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