SVGOC launches Safe Sports Commission this Thursday

The matrices required to attain Safe Sports will be ventilated from 7:00 p.m, at the Beachcombers Hotel, Villa, this Thursday, December 5, 2024, when the Safe Sports Commission, as mandated by the St Vincent and the Grenadines, holds a panel discussion to officially launch its operations.

To be held under the theme: “Bridging the gap between sports and safety”, the panellist are: Keith Joseph, President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC); Dr Alisa Alves- Clinical Psychologist; Police Sergeant, Stephen Billy; along with Shimano Bailey, Lead of the Safe Sports Commission; and lawyer, Moureeze Franklyn.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Bailey said the dynamics have changed, hence, there is need for a rethink and recalibration about coaching.

“It was presumptuous for us to think that old school coaching, which employs tactics to punish, embarrass, humiliate, guilt, and shame athletes as tools to improve sports performance was a thing of the past as well, neither are the days of coaches yelling, insulting, intimidating, demeaning, and demoralizing their young athletes…”.

Bailey expressed understanding that coaches and many others believed that “face-mask grabbing, shoving, two more laps, and no water strategies for making athletes tough and successful” worked.

He said based on research there are more downsides and dire consequences of coaches’ actions on their athletes.

“When athletes are threatened, their emotions also turn against them. Sometimes they get angry, which can enhance performance in situations requiring aggressiveness and reckless abandon. Undirected anger can result in loss of physical and emotional control, technical errors, tactical errors, penalties, and a desire to harm themselves or others,” Bailey pointed out.

“ Athletes may also experience fear, frustration, sadness, anxiety, and despair when they feel unsafe. Consequentially, these emotions increase their feelings of embarrassment, guilt, humiliation, and shame for disappointing their parents, coaches, teammates, and friends.”

The Safe Sports Commission Lead is hopeful that with the work of his group, and the undertakings of the national sporting organisations, the various clubs and community units things will change for the better.

Optimistic of this, he believes that along with the exposure to modern demands of coaching, things are beginning to turn the corner.