[Video] Made to Play Coaching Girls Guide Workshop

On the morning of Saturday 21 May, the third Made to Play Coaching Girls Guide workshop of the global series took place, co-organised by TAFISA and Nike Made to Play and in partnership with the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees. This workshop received over 100 registrations (the highest of the series so far) from 17 countries from across the Caribbean and neighbouring countries. 

The workshop was officially kicked-off by Ms Catherine Forde, TAFISA Vice President for the Americas, who gave words of welcome on behalf of the TAFISA Board of Directors and CANOC President Mr Brian Lewis who gave words of welcome on behalf of CANOC.

As part of TAFISA’s ongoing partnership with Nike Made to Play, the workshop series has been designed to increase and enhance opportunities for girls and women to undertake sport and physical activity as well as highlight the necessity of equal representation at all levels.

The objectives of this workshop were:

• To empower girls and women through the training and educating of coaches, sport leaders, and managers
• To improve the quality of sport coaching offered to girls and women and encourage girls and women to train as sport coaches.
• To increase the number of (1) girls who are physically active, (2) women who are trained coaches, and (3) women leaders across the Global Sport for All Movement. 

To achieve these objectives, participants first heard from three fantastic speakers who reported on the State of Play of three sports in the Caribbean. The first intervention was from Dr Bridget Adams - Honorary Secretary & Coaching Coordinator, Americas Netball. Next up was Ms Donna Raynor - WIS Chairperson, Bermuda Olympic Association (Athletics). And last, but certainly not least, participants heard from Ms Sheena Gooding - Project Officer, Cricket West Indies.

Following the fantastic and insightful interventions from the first three speakers, Ms Viv Holt – Head of International Operations for Youth Sport Trust International – led an interactive roundtable whereby participants were provided a platform and opportunity to report on their experiences as coaches, leaders and managers in terms of recruiting and retaining girls in their sports programmes, events and initiatives. Ms Holt also introduced the Made to Play Coaching Girls Guide as an excellent free and accessible resource to help participants in their quest to ensure their sporting activities are suitable, attractive and accessible for girls. All speakers provided a wealth of knowledge by sharing their own experiences and insight on how to successfully engage with girls and women across the sport movement.

TAFISA wishes to thank Nike Made to Play, CANOC, Ms Catherine Forde, President Brian Lewis and the superb speakers for their contributions to the workshop. A special thanks must also go to the participants for being so open and engaging.

Make sure you stay up to date with TAFISA’s news to learn about the upcoming workshops in the series and you can watch the replay from the workshop below or on YouTube.