By Jamie Worboys:
Last night I was invited to a meeting that was based on the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) Sport for Life Symposium which focuses on LTAD and Physical Literacy. Mr. Joseph, the General Secretary of SVGOC, led the meeting while many others attended. Affiliates from specific Ministries of Government attended while Presidents of various sport associations were also there.
This meeting was an introductory information session of Sport for Life’s Long Term Athlete Development along with the initial stages that include Physical Literacy. Seeing as I am a Sport Management undergraduate, I am very knowledgeable of Canada’s sport policies and initiatives but some Vincetians seemed to have no knowledge of LTAD and looked very interested in this unique initiative.
Seeing as the Prime Minister of SVG called for a “wellness revolution”, Mr. Joseph and the rest of SVGOC wanted to help out. S4L’s LTAD initiative will include 6 Caribbean islands including: Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Haiti, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and SVG. These nations will focus on using 5 sports (of their choice) to implement LTAD into.
On February 22nd and 23rd, members of the Canadian Olympic Committee will be visiting the island to host a CANOC S4L 2016 Workshop on LTAD. I am eager to meet members of the COC and begin to network with an organization I hope to work for in the near future. Working for my own country’s NOC has always been my primary career goal since getting accepted into the Sport Management program at Brock in 2012. Finally I get the chance to meet members of the COC and who knows… this could be my way into the COC after graduation!