“Sports for all through Football”

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Olympic Committee sent a delegate, Dalton Watler, to the 12th World Sports for All conference in Malaysia in 2008 with all expenses covered by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). According to a release from the CIOC, this conference was attended by 505 participants from 96 countries and it focused on physical activity for young people, the role of sports in the world of information technology, sports challenges of ageing populations, sport for all and social justice, and the Olympic movement in Sports for All. The main recommendation at the end of discussions was the support of initiatives and research which address “Moving towards an active society”.

The IOC encourages all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to host “Sports for All” events on a National basis to which they will contribute financially. The Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC) was invited to submit an application to host such an event in 2009. Watler was asked by CIOC to complete the application for Cayman based on his knowledge as Director of Sports and having attended the 2008 congress.

The application from the CIOC was approved and accepted by the IOC, with a partial contribution to the overall costs of the activity. The event will be “Sports for all through Football” and will be held in two stages. The first will be in all districts on May 30th with competitions for various age groups; followed by final games in George Town on June 6th for the best teams in each age group, physically challenged players and the over 40 age group. Overall participant numbers are expected to be 600 – 800.

This particular event represents a social justice for a larger group of people that would not usually play football due to its competitiveness and organizational structure. Participants will include men, women, youth and seniors. The event will teach the importance of healthy physical activity and interaction among people in an environment conducive to friendship and understanding regardless of peoples social, biological and ethnic differences.

The official organizers of the event for CIOC with Watler will be Ernie Seymour, National football coach and Roy Ebanks, Community football coach. Other partners will be the Cayman Islands Government Education Department, the Cayman Islands Football Association and the Cayman Islands Referees Association.

There will be no cost to participants and they will all receive T-shirts and refreshments. Awards will be given for the best team, the best player, the most disciplined, the most improved, and the team with the most achievements in Olympism – “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (“Swifter, Higher, Stronger”).

In addition to IOC and CIOC funding, other sponsors for the event include Progressive Distributors Ltd and Gatorade as well as Cayman Free Press. CIOC is very grateful for this support.

Please see the participant form in the newspapers which may be completed and returned to CIOC on Smith Road (9466984) or the Sports Department in Queens Court (9497082).

For further information please contact Team leaders as follows:
Ernie Seymour and Orvin Palacios for GT at 9271405.
Roy Ebanks for West Bay at 3210739.
Thiago Cunha for EE/NS at 9242814.
Elbert McLean for Bodden Town at 9257296.