TORONTO, April 16, 2015 – Are we good at identifying and predicting sports talent? Not really, says eminent York University researcher Professor Joe Baker who will talk about the ways we could improve talent identification and development during his keynote speech April 18 at the PANEX Summit, a three-day conference that began today.

Baker also will be reviewing talent identification systems used in sports and highlight several factors that seem to predict success in sport, as part of the keynote titled “Talent Identification and Development in Sports: Myth or Reality.”

Professor Parissa Safai, another noted sport researcher in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science in York U’s Faculty of Health, will take part in a panel discussion on sport, health and social capital.

PANEX is a multidisciplinary research summit on sociocultural, biophysical, and behavioural disciplines — all related to healthy high performance sports and the underlying exercise and sports research. The conference is jointly organized by academics from Brock University, McMaster University, the University of Toronto and York University.

WHAT:              2015 Pan American Sport and Exercise Research Summit (PANEX 2015)

WHERE:           Hyatt Regency Toronto, 370 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1J9 on map)

WHEN:             Thursday, April 16 to Saturday, April 18, 2015

Program highlight:

April 18
- Talent Identification and Development in Sports: Myth or Reality
keynote speech by Professor Joe Baker, York University

Click here for complete program schedule

NOTE: Professor Joe Baker is available upon request for media interviews

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Media Contact: Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 416 736 2100 ext. 22094, suhasini@yorku.ca