sport as a business: a gateway to sustainability...commonwealth advisory body on sport 4....

16th - 17th June, 2015Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I.

“One of the best conferences I have attended, well organized, great facilities and wonderful speakers.CSDA has outdone themselves”

Trevor Shillingford Director of Sport, Dominica

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO INTERNATIONAL SPORT CONFERENCE 2015:SUMMARY REPORT

Sport As A Business: A Gateway To SustainabilitySport As A Business: A Gateway To Sustainability

Keynote Speakers:

DR. EDWIN MOSES MS. LOUISE MARTIN

Keynote Speakers:Keynote Speakers:

MS. LOUISE MARTINMS. LOUISE MARTIN PROFESSOR TERRY STEVENS SIR HILARY BECKLES

“One of the best conferences I have attended, well organized, great facilities and wonderful speakers.

54 ORGANIZATIONS54 ORGANIZATIONS54 ORGANIZATIONS

17 COUNTRIES17 COUNTRIES17 COUNTRIES

MORE THAN 200 PARTICIPANTS

SIR HILARY BECKLESSIR HILARY BECKLES

Participating Organizations1. Australia Government, National Integrity of Sport unit2. Baxter’s Limited3. Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport4. Commonwealth Secretariat 5. Caribbean Sport and Development Agency6. CTV7. Express Newspaper8. First Citizens Sports Foundation9. Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants10. Ghana Government and Ministry of Youth and Sports11. Government Information System Ltd.12. Guardian Newspaper13. Investt14. Just Sport Media15. Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dominica17. Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development18. Ministry of National Securtity19. Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports, Nevis20. Ministry of Sport, Trinidad21. Ministry of Tourism, Sport and Culture, St Vincent22. Ministry of Tourism, Trinidad23. Ministry of Youth Development and Sport, St Lucia24. Ministry of Youth, Sports and Religious Affairs, Grenada25. Namibia Football Association 26. National Sports Commission, Nigeria27. National Sports Council, Barbados28. OECS Commission29. Office of Law Enforcement Police, Ministry of National Security30. Point Fortin borough corporation31. Premier Taekwondo Championship Series32. Cyber World Link Services Ltd33. Special Olympics International HQ34. Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago35. T&T Boxing Board of Control36. T&T Chess Association 37. T&T Cricket Board38. T&T Cycling Federation39. T&T Defense Force40. T&T Gymnastics Federation41. T&T Gymnastics Federation42. T&T Netball Association43. T&T Sambo and Combat Sambo Federation44. T&T Taekwondo Association45. T&T Triathlon Federation46. Tourism Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago47. The Learning Academy of Basketball48. Tobago House of Assembly, Communications Unit of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport49. UK Sport50. UNICEF Namibia51. United States Sports Academy52. University of Malay53. University of the West Indies54. University of Trinidad and Tobago

Participating Countries1. Anguilla

2. Antigua and Barbuda

3. Australia

4. Barbados

5. Dominica

6. Ghana

7. Grenada

8. Malaysia

9. Namibia

10. Nigeria

11. Scotland

12. St Vincent

13. St. Kitts and Nevis

14. St. Lucia

15. Trinidad and Tobago

16. UK

17. USA

On June 15-17 the Inaugural Trinidad and Tobago International Sport Conference (TTISC 2015) was held at the HYATT Regency Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad. The event was a collaboration between the Ministry of Sport, Trinidad & Tobago, the Tourism development Company and the Caribbean Sport and Development Agency with significant support from the Shanghai Construction Group Caribbean Ltd. and the National Gas Company of Trinidad & Tobago. The conference brought together experts, practitioners, researchers, funders and policy makers to share ideas, explore new possibilities and strengthen potential for collaboration within the Caribbean Region.

The theme of this Inaugural conference was Sport as a Business - a gateway to sustainability and the main goal was to bring together local, regional and international sport experts to address new and emerging themes within the sport sector in the context of a shift towards the appreciation of sport as a business.

A total of just over 200 participants from 17 different countries and 54 organizations took part in the 2-day conference.

Day 2 sessions began with much the same anticipation as Day 1. After a brief recap of the outcomes of day 1, Vidia Ramphal introduced Dr. Shaun McCarthy of the International Centre for Sport and Security. Dr. McCarthy spoke about the many challenges that modern sport faced and how sport contributes to growing economies.

Following the break, Professor Terry Stevens shared some concepts around making your destination one that would be unforgettable and identified that what was most memorable about any destination was its people.

Participants were then encouraged to disburse and sit in one of three concurrent sessions. One of these sessions was Sport and the Media: Understanding Television Rights, facilitated by Mr. Larry Romany for president of TTOC and the CEO of CANOC Broadcasting Inc. He shared several insights into the world or media broadcasting and the many benefits that could be gained from its involvement and described CANOC’s model in partnering with ESPN for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Another of these sessions was on the use of Technology in the optimizing of performance. Mr. Duane Lall engineer and founder of Novel Sports facilitated this session. Using several examples he shared how the use of technology through methods such as video analysis for example could significantly assist coaches and athletes in finding and fixing technical performance glitches.

The third such session was conducted by Mr. Narada Wilson and Ms. Carla Parris of TBL Sport Management and looked at the value of sport agents. They shared the work of TBL Sport Management and the countless regional athletes that form its clientele.

These scintillating presentations took us into the lunch period after which Chair of the Commonwealth Advisory Board on Sport, Mrs. Louise Martin discussed the importance of Protecting the Positive Potential of Sport and shared several experiences that was gleaned from the hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Mr. Andrew Godkin of the Australian National Integrity in Sport Unit then described in his presentation several strategies that the Australian Government was using to monitor and deter illegal gambling. He spoke of the challenges that were faced and the need for early detection of potential infringements.

The final period of the day saw another round of concurrent sessions, these included Safestamp: A multifaceted Approach to making Sport Safer for Children presented by Mark Mungal, Director of CSDA; Anti-doping and the Caribbean Athlete presented by Andre Collins, Director of CSDA and member of WADA Education Committee while Mr. Ian Ramdahin, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Sport conducted the session on Understanding the elements of Sport Risk Management.

As the saying goes “all good things must come to an end” thus came the point that this momentous event came to an end. The organizers recognized the many people and organizations that contributed to its great success not least of which were the Tourism Development Company, Ministry of Sport, Shanghai Construction Group Caribbean Ltd and the national Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago. The Hyatt Regency Hotel management and staff were also recognized for their exemplary and exquisite level of service over the period of the conference.

The conference, chaired by Master of Ceremonies Vidia Ramphal began simply but with great effect and quickly moved to the much-anticipated Keynote address by the indomitable Dr. Edwin Moses, chairman of USADA, WADA Education Committee and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Dr. Moses shared what made him successful and unbeatable for close to a decade-107 consecutive final wins, 4 world records and 2 Olympic Gold medals. He shared how he transferred this same focus and determination to the fight against doping in sport and the promotion of Sport for Good.

The next session was ably moderated by ESPN Sport analyst Shaka Hislop, panelists Dr. Edwin Moses, Sir Hilary Beckles, Mrs. Louise Martin and Professor Terry Stevens shared their perspectives on the stated issues. Some panelists used the cultural context of institutionalization to question the concepts themselves while others took more pragmatic views and shared global examples of best practice.

Following the lunch break, Professor Beckles, Vice Chancellor, UWI would continue this discussion in his discourse on “Managing the Mine and the Mind’ and suggested that the issues of integrity and governance in sport for the Caribbean person are inseparable from the contextual realities of our history of slavery. It is noteworthy that more that 70% of survey respondents listed this as their first choice when asked to rank their top 5 sessions.

The afternoon continued with Mr. Oliver Dudfield of the Commonwealth Secretariat sharing the approaches to governance that the Secretariat has been promoting and called on the regional persons to make themselves available to support global data collection efforts. Dr. John Nauright of the University of Brighton the spoke on the Necessity of Ethical Practices and Good Governance in Caribbean Sport.

Mr. Michael Zhang of the Shanghai Construction Group Caribbean Ltd. took a look at the economic impact of sport and projected growth within the Caribbean through the attraction of mega events and shared China’s willingness to support regional development through sharing of expertise and exchanges for sport personalities.

Senior legal officer at the Ministry of Sport, Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Tyrone Marcus then shared some key issues regarding the relationship between Sport Governance and Dr. Ali Sari of Genesis group of Companies who followed, looked at the critical issue of venue assessment and risk management.

The first day closed with a presentation from youth delegates who attended the First Citizens Sport Foundation sponsored Commonwealth Youth Sport for Development Advocacy toolkit workshop. The youth shared some of the concepts covered during their sessions and admonished conference delegates to listen more attentively to the voice of the youth and become greater partners in the development of young leaders through sport.

Day 1 Highlights

1. Monday 15th June Mega Sport Facilities Tour

Visiting conference delegates were treated to a sneak peak of mega sport facilities being completed in the Couva area (2 of 3 new sporting facilities). Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago and the Shanghai Construction Group Caribbean Ltd facilitated tours of the Cycling Veladrome and Aquatic Centre. Delegates all agreed that these facilities were definitely world class and among the best they had seen.

Cycling Veladrome: Aquatic Centre:UCI Certified 50m Olympic Competition PoolFully indoor and temperature controlled Full size warm-up pool250m Siberian spruce track Diving pool2500 Capacity Underwater cameras

Pre and Post Conference Activities

2. Monday 15th June Regional Directors of Sport Meeting

Regional Directors from 10 countries met to discuss and address key issues affecting the region in respect to Sport development. The meeting was co-chaired by Gabre McTair (ag. Director of Sport, T&T) and Andre Collins (Director, CSDA). After brief opening remarks Mr. Oliver Dudfield of the Commonwealth Secretariat shared some important developments in regard to the Secretariat and the way forward.

The meeting reviewed and discussed several pieces of communication from the Commonwealth Secretariat including the report of the 7th Commonwealth Sport Ministers Meeting. They were also updated on several CARICOM initiatives being advanced including Child Protection and Safeguarding and the introduction of the Regional Curriculum Framework for Physical Education for the Caribbean.

The meeting agreed to request that Directors of Sport be included in country delegations at CSMM to strengthen the implementation process. They also agreed to work with CARICOM to support the implementation of stated initiatives and to revisit the idea of the Caribbean Games. Finally the meeting recognized the continued and significant role that CSDA played in regional Sport development and committed to continue to support the delivery of ongoing initiatives.

4. Thursday 18th & Friday 19th June CABOS Meeting

The meeting convened in Trinidad and Tobago by CABOS represented a landmark event, as the meeting was never held outside of the UK until this point.

The Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS) was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at its meeting in Abuja in 2003 and endorsed by the Commonwealth Sport Ministers in Athens in 2004. Its mandate is to advise the Commonwealth Secretariat and member governments on sport policy, particularly as it relates to Sport for Development and Peace (SDP).

Key Discussions & Recommendations:i. Strengthening National SDP Policy Frameworks through identifying of opportunities/needs for future technical support to develop SDP strategy and action plansii. Resourcing of Sport for Development and Peace in the Commonwealth through the strengthening of SDP stakeholders and leveraging on partnerships with the

private sector.iii. Commonwealth Youth Sport for Development and Peace working group (CYSDP) should continue to promote CYSDP’s Sport for Development and Peace Advocacy

Toolkit as the tool has shown the ability to improve the quality of experiences for young people in SDP. iv. Commonwealth Consensus on Integrity in Sport was reached a report would be and proposed Framework would be tabled for the 8th Commonwealth Sports

Ministers Meeting.v. Advancing Economic Development through Sport is a critical issue and the Board recognizes the work of Dr. Shaun McCarthy of the International Centre for Sport

and Security (ICSS) and will support the Harvard study commissioned by the ICSS with the expressed interest in strengthening relationships with CABOS to support further data collection around the use of sport as a tool to advance economic development.

3. Monday 15th June CABOS visit to the St, James Police Youth Club

The St. James Police Youth Club (SJPYC) is a registered non-profit organization, which caters to the needs of young people between the ages of 5 to 21 years. It was established in November 1992 and is one of the most vibrant and well established Police Youth Club's now functioning in Trinidad and Tobago with a registered membership of two hundred and twenty six (226) youth. The main focus of the club is to expose young people to productive activities in education, sports, culture, spirituality and community service, as an alternative to a life of drugs, crime and juvenile delinquency. During the visit, members of CABOS were given a tour of the humble facilities and an overview of the history and work of the SJPYC. Manager and Founder of the SJPYC, Officer Derrick Sharbodie shared some of the successes and challenges of the club, giving CABOS members a good snapshot of what it takes to run sport for development programmes in Trinidad. Officer Sharbodie received the Commonwealth Youth Worker Award for the Caribbean Region in 2014 and the visit highlighted his obvious dedication and passion for youth work.Before departing, CABOS members also had the pleasure of interacting with the children and young people who serenaded the visitors with sweet steelpan music and a well-choreographed African dance.

Day 2 Highlights