Key note speaker announced for 2007 GNAC Professional Development Seminar

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference is proud to announce that the key note speaker for our 2nd annual Professional Development Seminar being held in Boston on August 15 and 16, 2007 will be Dan Doyle the Director of the Institute of International Sport and the founder of National Sportsmanship Day. Dan Doyle is a Graduate of Bates College, where he was co-captain of the men's varsity basketball team. Dan is also a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, and he holds honorary doctorates from Bridgewater State College and the University Rhode Island. Recently, Dan was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, considered to be the highest honor for citizens of Rhode Island. He also serves as a trustee at his Alma Mater, Bates College.

Dan was an assistant men's basketball coach at Brown University, and head men's basketball coach at both Kingswood-Oxford School in Connecticut, and at Trinity College. He compiled an overall coaching record of 142-45, and in his last year at Trinity, where his team ended the season ranked 13th in the country, he was named New England College Coach of the Year.

Dan founded the Institute for International Sport in 1986 after writing a paper at the Fletcher School regarding the creation of such an Institute. Among the programs Dan has conceived are:

• National Sportsmanship Day - Considered by many to be the largest sportsmanship program in the world, the 17th annual NSD was recently celebrated in over 13,500 schools in all 50 states, and in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, India and Australia.
• The World Scholar-Athlete Games - in July 2006, the World Scholar-Athlete Games welcomed delegations from 157 countries and all 50 states - making it the largest sports/cultural event in the world in 2006 in terms of countries represented. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton delivered the keynote address at the Games. In May 2006, the Institute announced an historic World Scholar-Athlete Games partnership with the United Nations at a press conference at the UN.
• The Center for Sports Parenting - a website-based program which, using the services of 30 national parenting experts, offers free sports parenting advice.
• The Irish-American Sports Foundation, an all-volunteer organization which, under Dan's direction, raised over 4 million dollars to construct the Irish National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
• The New England Basketball Hall of Fame which, in its fourth year, attracted nearly 1,200 people to the biennial dinner.
• The International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame. Located on the campus of The University of Rhode Island, the Hall is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the State of Rhode Island. Dan and the Institute development team negotiated grants, including a 1 million dollar lead-gift to construct the building.
• The Center for Sports Leadership - the Institute's second building, the Center for Sports Leadership, is presently under construction and will open in 2007. Dan and the Institute Development Team negotiated grants in excess of one million dollars to pay for this new facility, which will offer dynamic leadership training to thousands of coaches, captains and other student athletes.
• Hall of Fame Press - Dan's interest in literature has led to the creation of a new Institute initiative, "Hall of Fame Press." Beginning in 2007, Hall of Fame Press will publish two to three sport-themed books per year. The first publication of Hall of Fame Press will be "Our Game: A Story of New England Basketball" by acclaimed author and journalist, Bill Reynolds.
• The 2011 World Youth Peace Summit - please keep an eye on this website for more information on this extraordinary event, which will be celebrated in conjunction with the Institute's 25th anniversary.

Dan wrote the acclaimed novel, "Are You Watching, Adolph Rupp?" favorably reviewed in over 50 publications, including the New York Times and USA Today. His next - and most important book - The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting is finished. Volume I of the Encyclopedia will be in bookstores in '07, and Volume II will be in bookstores in '08. He is also writing a 75-page manual entitled, "The Master Coach," which will be in bookstores in '08. The objective of this manual is to set the standard for coaching excellence and societal impact in the future. Dan's second novel, "Parading the Ghosts," is scheduled to be completed in '08. Dan also founded the Young Writers Institute at Kingswood-Oxford, an all-volunteer mentor program for young writers in Greater Hartford. He founded and chaired the Aran Islands (Ireland) International Poetry & Prose Festival, considered to be one of the foremost literary festivals in the world.

For the sixth consecutive year, Dan has been chosen by the NCAA as its NCAA Foundation Distinguished lecturer. And finally, Dan was named by the Sporting News as among the most influential people in sports.

For more information on Dan Doyle, The Institute of International Sport or National Sportsmanship Day please visit www.internationalsport.com.