Speakers

 Dr Thulani Ngwenya is a distinguished sports medicine professional with extensive experience in international sporting events, athlete health and anti-doping. His credentials include serving as a Doping Control Officer at major FIFA and AFCON tournaments, a CAF U17 Eligibility Panel Member, and Team South Africa’s Chief Medical Officer at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with further Olympic and Commonwealth Games experience.

Dr Ngwenya also served on the Return to Sport Adjudication Committee under DSAC and are the author of Sports Medicine: My Love & Passion.

Pierre Meintjes Spies is an internationally recognised sport scientist, strength and conditioning specialist, and the Global Lead Educator for Wattbike. With more than seventeen years of experience in elite performance, he is known for his expertise in off‑feet conditioning, athlete profiling, sport technology integration, and evidence‑based performance systems used by high‑performance organisations worldwide.

As founder of Sport Science & Conditioning (PTY) Ltd, Pierre has developed athlete‑development frameworks, testing systems, and applied sport science education across rugby, football, cricket, boxing, and multidisciplinary performance environments. His work emphasises practical, data‑driven methods that enhance athlete readiness, reduce injury risk, and elevate conditioning standards across diverse sporting cultures.

Lee-Anne Diab holds an honors degree in Sport Science from the North-West University. Her main field of interest is the Science of Recovery and Brain Health. 

Lee-Anne is a unique academic that can bring the theory and practical aspect of Sport Science to the table, with a strong focus on both clinical and practical
implementation. She has a passion for continuous learning and purposefully strives towards creating more opportunities to empower and mentor aspiring sport scientists. 

She is the former Blue Bulls Sport Scientist and Founder of Fierce Pro Recovery: a leading Sports Medicine, Brain Health and Sport Science Practice. This practice has developed a strong professional and significant footprint in South Africa and Globally. Fierce Pro Recovery has been confirmed as a leader in gender empowerment for Standard Bank Top Leaders Awards in 2020, 2021 and 2025.

Tumi Masekela is a former professional cricketer and high-performance strength and conditioning specialist with experience across South African domestic, franchise and national-team cricket. After a decade-long career playing with teams including Limpopo, Northerns, Free State, Titans and Knights, he transitioned into sport science and athlete preparation. A University of Pretoria Sport Science graduate with honours in Human Movement Science from the University of the Free State, Tumi has supported elite environments including the SA Under-19 programme, National Academy, South Africa “A”, Proteas Men and Proteas Women. He brings a practical, athlete-centred perspective to readiness, resilience and sustained performance.