I am pleased to invite you to join us at the 6th Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching conference that will be convened in Tokyo, Japan from November 8 to 10 in 2019. This is an exciting development for the biennial Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching conference with it being convened one week after the 2019 Rugby World Cup by Tokyo Gakugei University (TGU). It will be chaired by Associate Professor Naoki Suzuki, who has played a significant role in developing and promoting Game Sense in Japan. He has run several workshops and symposia on Game Sense in Tokyo and is well published on Game Sense and the Japanese physical education curriculum in Japanese and English.

              The Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching began in 2006 at the University of Sydney to meet the need for a regional conference on game based approaches to coaching and teaching with subsequent conferences convened in 2013 (Sydney), 2015 (Christchurch, NZ) and 2017 (Adelaide). If we count the 2014 TGfU conference in Taipei this conference would be the sixth one. All these conferences have succeeded in providing a warm and collegial atmosphere for the sharing of ideas in the ongoing development of Game Sense and other GBA (game based approaches) for coaching and teaching. Like the Game Sense approach itself, these conferences emphasize reflection, dialogue and learning. Holding the 65th Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching conference in Japan reflects the growing influence of Game Sense globally and the need to be able to adapt it to different cultural contexts. It also provides an opportunity for networking and developing understanding of physical education teaching and sport coaching in Japan for overseas visitors and for Japanese scholars, students, teachers and coaches to interact with visitors from across the globe.

              The 2019 conference follows the basic two-day format that the past three conferences have followed. In Tokyo this begins with a Friday evening welcome event that includes an offocial welcome and the opening keynote address and followed by drinks and nibbles for attendees to mix and get to know each other.

              Day 1 is committed to oral presentations divided into four basic streams. There will be three separate streams delivered on Coaching and Teaching in English and one stream in Japanese. There is 15 minutes allowed for each presentation and 10-15 mins for discussion after three papers with six papers per hour. Day 1 includes two keynotes, a symposium and a break out session.

              Day 2 is Teachers’ and Coaches’ Day, devoted to demonstrations by international experts on Game Sense coaching and teaching. Each of these workshops will run for 45 minutes on a range of team sports with ten minutes for questions. At the end of the day the conference will close with the keynote speakers and workshop presenters sitting as a panel to answer questions and interact with the audience.

              I hope that you can join us for the 2019 Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching conference in a fabulous international city that will still be buzzing from hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the conference chair, Associate Professor Naoki Suzuki, his hard working Conference Committee and Tokyo Gakugei University for convening what will be a great conference and one that anyone interested in Game Sense and other GBA should not miss