The Young Athletes Forum Foundation welcomes you to the 1st YAF Convention.

Children and adolescents are the future of our nations, and their athletic endeavors and prowess will be hailed in the coming years, especially in the French part of Switzerland as Lausanne and the Canton de Vaud will be hosting the 2020 Youth Olympic Games.

The field of sports and exercise medicine has seen tremendous development in recent years, with the appearance of many high quality conferences around injury and illness prevention, treatment, performance support and development. Specific issues around young athletes are rarely addressed in dedicated events, although there is a high demand for accessible education opportunities and knowledge exchange for all stakeholders in youth sports.

Our aim is to bring together the experts on the key topics around young athlete development and care, and share their expertise and unanswered questions with the athletic community, from coaches to managers, trainers and doctors, therapists and parents alike. Topics will include athletic and biological development, sports nutrition and sports psychology for youth, injury prevention, traumatic and overuse injuries, fatigue and recovery management and will try to address the complex challenge of bringing it all together.

As we all know, there is no performance in the presence of injury, illness or inadequate physical or mental readiness. We hope to engage the local, national and international youth sports community, and look forward to welcoming you in the magnificent lakeside town of Montreux.

Boris Gojanovic, Chair, Scientific Committee
Frédéric Koehn, President Young Athletes Forum Foundation