GOA represented at Pan Am Sports Development Seminar

The Executive Committee of the Guyana Olympic Association continues as part of its strategy in building capacity to announce the successful participation of National Hockey Coach Robert Fernandes representing the Guyana Olympic Association at the PanAm Sports – Sports Development Seminar on High Performance Sports in the Pan-American Region, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 22 & 23, 2023.
National Olympic Committee (NOC) representatives were given a preview of the “DASH” Platform which will be donated by Pan-Am Sports to all NOCs within the Pan American region. The Data Analytics in Sports and High-Performance Platform is a unique tool which uses artificial intelligence to help NOCs track and predict the future performance of athletes.

On day one of the seminar Dr. Leandro Mazzei, Professor of Sports Sciences at the University of Campinas, presented on the “Essential concepts on the achievement of international sports success”. He also gave an update on the main results of the “Development of high-performance sport In the Pan-American countries” research project which is currently underway, with the final findings scheduled to be released upon conclusion of the Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile later this year. Director of Sport Science, Medicine and Innovation at Canada’s “Own the Podium” Organisation, Dr. Andy Van Neutegem delivered an insightful presentation on the Canadian approach to the “Development of high-performance sport (Long-Term Development Program /Coach Development Program)”. This was followed by the Brazilian Case on the development of high-performance sport (Brazil Sport Development Framework / Youth National Games) presented by Kenji Saito and Taciana Pinto.
Day two of the seminar included a tour of the Brazil Olympic Committee Training Centre, followed by a Round Table discussion on the High Performance Sport Development approaches of Jamaica, Brazil and Canada. The seminar concluded with a tour of the world famous Sugar Loaf Mountain.
Asked about the experience, Fernandes stated “The seminar was excellent, it highlighted all the long term planning, systems, coach and athlete support services that go into high performance. Sustained success on the podium doesn’t happen by chance, it’s often the end result of eight or more years of deliberate actions to identify, nurture, expose and support talent so each athlete who possesses the desire to do so, can fulfil their potential. My biggest take away from this experience is that no matter the size of your budget, success can be achieved if you invest your resources strategically. I think the organisers did an exceptional job of demonstrating this by their contrasting comparison of the Canada, Brazil and Jamaica models. We must create our own uniquely Guyanese high performance model to nurture the young world class natural talent we have always possessed into the adult Olympic Champions they are capable of being.”
The Executive Committee is pleased with the representation and will be meeting in the near future with Mr. Fernandes to help develop the high performance model suited for Guyana. This will coincide with an upcoming session the Executive Committee will be engaged in to strengthen their policies, vision and strategic plan to evaluate and plan the way forward since President Godfrey Munroe secured the landslide victory to assume Presidency of the Guyana Olympic Association.