SVG completes LTAD, Physical Literacy Project

St Vincent and the Grenadines has completed phase one of its Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) and Physical Literacy Project.

Lasting a period of 15 months, in which there were face-to-face seminars and webinars, the programme officially concluded last Tuesday at Frenches House.

This means that eight national sporting disciplines – track and field, basketball, swimming, cycling, football, taekwondo, table tennis and paralympics, have their own blueprint for the systematic development of their sports specifics and their members.

Facilitators of the final chapter of SVG’s project were Thomas Jones and Drew Mitchell.

Addressing the participants at last Tuesday’s close off of the project, Jones reminded them, “You have produced things that nobody else has produced… First of all you have produced eight models, eight frameworks, which is among the highest among the countries so far. You have produced the only paralympic model … You have also produced printed out documents, which we have never seen before.”

He, however, warned the participants that the onus is on them to ensure that the various models are given life through implementation.

Expressing similar sentiments was Mitchell, who warned: “I hope that these plans move towards implementation… I hope that they don’t sit on the shelf… I will be sad if they do”.

Jones and Mitchell were part of the Sports For Life teams that visited during the 15-month period.

The others were Istvan Balyi and Richard Way.

The Vincentian arm of the project began in February, 2016, with the Sports For Life team making visits every four months.

The project was undertaken by the Caribbean Association of Olympic Committees (CANOC), in conjunction with Sports For Life of Canada.

St Vincent and the Grenadines participated along with The Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Haiti, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.