SOSVG, SONH solidifying partnership

Special Olympics SVG and Special Olympics New Hampshire in the USA are firming up a partnership, which would see the two entities benefiting from each other’s expertise.{{more}}

The first such partnership was realized last Friday and Saturday, when a two-day training session was conducted here at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.

Mary Conroy, Robyn Markey and Pam Languille, the three persons who comprised the team from SO New Hampshire, shared their knowledge with the Vincentian coaches/volunteers with the hosts reciprocating.

Conroy, who is the chief executive officer of Special Olympics New Hampshire, told SEARCHLIGHT that over the two days, they looked mainly at coaches’ education and athletes’ training.

Conroy said that much emphasis was placed on the athletes’ public speaking abilities.

She projects they “would go out to the communities and make their voices be heard.”

Anticipating a long-lasting relationship with her Vincentians allies, Conroy, in praising them, said: “I learned a great deal from them… I am so impressed with the persons who are involved in the Special Olympics; they gave us two days of their time and that shows their dedication to the athletes and to their profession of coaching.”

Fitzgerald King, one of the participants of the two-day workshop, said that the visiting delegation “brought a different perspective from the way we approach Special Olympics in St Vincent and the Grenadines and what I discovered most of all, is that you have to keep at it.”

King, who was the St Vincent and the Grenadines football coach to the Summer Games in Los Angeles, USA, last July, added that being involved in Special Olympics, one has to be engaged at all times.

“You have to use the electronic media, the World Wide Web and always upgrade yourself and the athletes,” King advised.(RT)