Associate Director of Sports Security Center to Attend International Conference
Fri, 03/04/2011 - 10:25am | By: Van Arnold
Dr. Stacey Hall, associate director of The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) at The University of Southern Mississippi, takes particular pride in the work being done at the internationally renowned facility.
Now Hall will have an opportunity to take her expertise and passion to Doha, Qatar as a participant in the first International Sports Security Conference March 9-10. Hall will join an invitation-only list of approximately 150 professionals from across the globe to discuss the latest trends and best practices in sports security, as well as recent successes and failures.
“We will hear the most prominent security leaders share their views on latest trends and lessons learned,” said Hall, who helped with the formation of NCS4 in 2006. “I'm excited about the networking possibilities and meeting key stakeholder in the global safety and security arena.
“Most importantly, it's an honor to represent NCS4 and Southern Miss on an international level. This is great exposure for our institution and a reflection of all the hard work our staff does on a daily basis with the support of the university administration.”
The impressive list of scheduled speakers include presidents of international sports federations, heads of security for law enforcement and government agencies and former chiefs of police from the New York and Los Angeles police departments. The group will also hear from tennis legend Monica Seles about the dangers of security breaches. Seles, a nine-time grand slam winner, was stabbed in the back by a deranged fan during a match in Hamburg, Germany in 1993.
Hall's invitation to the prestigious conference arose from a recommendation by NCS4 special projects manager Jim McGee, who has been traveling to the Middle East over the past year conducting training and risk assessments of soccer venues for Qatar as baseline preparations for the 2022 World Cup.
A native of Portadown, Northern Ireland, Hall, 31, will be making her first visit to the Middle East. Recent conflicts in that part of the world continue to dominate headlines worldwide but Hall has no qualms about traveling overseas at this time.
“The furthest east I have traveled is to Kazakhstan while I was playing on the Northern Ireland Women's International Soccer Team in 2006,” she said. “I love to travel and experience new cultures and traditions so I am looking forward to visiting a part of the world I've never seen before.”
Established in 2006, the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security was created to provide an interdisciplinary academic environment to further increase sport security awareness, improve sport security policies and procedures and enhance emergency response through evacuation, recovery operations and crowd management training.
For more information about NCS4 call 601.266.6183 or visit www.NCS4.com