Now that a two-person team has returned from the St Kitts and Nevis Sports Summit, the local sports department is aiming to hosting a similar event on island in 2020.
Coach Cordella Yearwood and Sports Physiotherapist Kenton Weekes represented Montserrat and the Department of Community, Youth and Sports Services at the SKN Sport Summit from August 11-16 in Nevis. The sports training clinic, facilitated by Ministry of Sports Nevis and a variety of Toronto based organisations sort to connect pro-athletic coaches, student athletes, physiotherapy, journalism, and media in an exchange of skills and experiences throughout the summit.
According to a release from the department, the programme offered opportunities to help young athletes link sports to academic success with a focus on careers in the sports industry: sport medicine, media, training/coaching, and
recruitment, created an education goal or plan for early registration for North American Education system with special consideration to Athletics for Future Academics (AFA) programme (exchange programme) and gain international experience. It also cultivated leadership Characteristics in Young Athletes on and off the court by encouraging youth to make a positive impact in their community and exposed participants to Coaching, Sports Journalism, Sports Medicine and Media Education.
The local delegation also took the opportunity to connect with their counterparts and begin discussions about collaborative programmes for Montserrat’s sports with the island federation. The objective was to observe the programme details as Montserrat will seek to host a similar event in January 2020.
“This has been a timely opportunity for us be in Nevis. Meeting the Canadian team of coaches and professionals, who eagerly imparted their knowledge, answered questions, while sharing experiences without hesitation,” shared Yearwood. “The meeting with the Director of Sports and the minister was also a highlight of our visit, where we have both re-established links and made commitments to keep the communication lines open for the betterment of sports between the islands.”
Weekes added that “We were privileged to have been invited by our Nevis counterparts to attend and observe their sports summit. Critical and influential contacts were made between us and the visiting professionals out of Canada, as well as our counterparts in the Ministry of Sports. A number of ideas were gained by Ms Yearwood and myself and we are both eager to return and share all that we have gathered from this summit.”
