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Children
participating in GameOn! baseball lead by the Morvant Laventille
Active Community Club.
More
than one year ago, an after-school sport initiative was
started for children of the Mon Repos and Mandingo/Realize
communities of southern Trinidad.
Game On! soon became a Friday afternoon ritual for the group
of children in the pilot programme.
It was their opportunity to play, have fun and learn a new
sport in a child-friendly environment.
Game On! is an ingenious programme developed by the International
Alliance for Youth Sport (IAYS) and was adopted locally
by the T&T Alliance for Sport & Physical Education
(TTASPE).
“Game
On! provides opportunities for children throughout the world
to participate in healthy sport activities,” explained
TTASPE’s Game On! coordinator Kerish Maharaj.
“Our
efforts in Trinidad were recognised by the IAYS.
With their support, the scope of the programme is being
significantly increased in the Caribbean,” Maharaj
added.
“Early
this month, the governments of both St Vincent and Grenada
gave approval for Game On! pilots,” he said.
In Grenada the initial training workshop for teachers is
scheduled for May 7-11, while in St Vincent the proposed
dates are April 23-25. The initial workshop consists of
two days of interactive theory sessions with the teachers
and one-day practical experience with students in a selected
primary school.
Over the next 12 to 18 months Game On! Caribbean will be
introduced as a model for the Caribbean in three primary
schools in three Caribbean islands. Tobago is also targeted
for this pilot programme, and discussions are being held
with the Tobago House of Assembly.
TTASPE has rallied support for Game On! from the Caricom
Physical Education Advisory Committee. Steps are being made
toward the endorsement of Game On! as part of the routine
physical education programme in primary schools across all
Caricom member states and as an after-school programme which
can be used to develop positive social skills and fundamental
motor skills in children.
Maharaj explained: “Very important to the Mission of
TTASPE and its stakeholders, is the research (and subsequent
results) that will be conducted through the Game On! Caribbean
programme.
“This
is the first major research project of this nature that
examines the quality and benefits of a physical education
programme in the Caribbean.
The research is intended to determine to what extent the
GameOn! programme meets international physical education
standards and to highlight any significant changes in the
lifestyles of participating children.”
For more information about introducing Game On! in your
community visit www.ttaspe.org or call 657-1283.
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