Sports are a staple of life in the Cayman Islands and now they are set to take a deeper root in local children.
The Ministry of Education has partnered with The Ministry of Sports to stage an after-school sports programme for public secondary school students. The endeavour is in its second term after a soft launch last Fall.
Michael Myles is the coordinator for the programme and spoke about how it started.
“The idea began about 10-15 years ago by the Department of Sports,” Myles said. “They tried coordinating the after-school programme through education but for whatever reason could not get the cooperation. I was hired on at the Ministry of Education in 2010 and had several discussions with coaches and teachers about this programme. Everyone felt it was a great idea but was unsure how to implement, fund and manage it. I met with the ministers and chief officers and sold the idea.
“We all agreed that many of our young people are left unsupervised and lack structure between 3pm and 5:30pm and this programme will fill a void. We all agreed that in order to prevent crime among our young people, we have to give them an outlet and this programme can be used as the outlet. A pilot of the programme began April 2011 with about eight sports activities. We operated the programme until June 2011.
“Just before school ended for summer, we surveyed the students on what other activities they would commit to doing. We expanded the programme to approximately 30 activities, which was to ensure that every student has something to do Monday-Friday. We also included activities that are non-sports oriented.”
All six of the focus sports are represented in football, athletics/track and field, basketball, cricket, netball and swimming. A number of popular disciplines are also featured in boxing, sailing, power lifting, martial arts, skateboarding, squash and tennis. The non-sporting activities are interesting and focus on areas like car mechanics, scuba diving and the fine arts. All are being featured at the Clifton Hunter and John Gray High School campuses.
For Director of Sports Collin Anglin, the after-school programme serves a greater role. It can help foster the existence of true interscholastic sports, a feat he feels is long overdue.
“In terms of exposing kids to healthy competition, sports and avenues to being positively involved in activities between 3pm and 6pm, inter-school sports is the answer,” Anglin said.
It should be noted that the private schools have formed their own group to tackle after-school activities. The Private School Association Interscholastic Sports League is currently ongoing and designed for middle and high school students. The featured pursuits are basketball, netball, football, volleyball, athletics and swimming.
For the record, the schools that are members of the association are Cayman International School, Cayman Prep, St. Ignatius, Triple C, Cayman Academy, Wesleyan Christian Academy and Grace Christian Academy.
Jeremy Moore, 36, is a principal at CIS and organized the association’s inaugural seven-a-side football tournament last year. The Orlando native previously stated the goal of the sports league is holistic development of local students.
“I truly believe that team sports provide a valuable learning opportunity for students and makes them more well-rounded and balanced individuals,” Moore said. “In addition, research studies indicate positive effects of participation in high school sports on academic achievement.
“These leagues and tournaments can promote school spirit and increase the excitement and energy on school campuses across the Island. Sports can help kids feel connected to their schools and when kids have a sense of ownership and connectedness, they achieve at higher levels and have a positive school experience.”
Myles states the new push for sports initiatives in schools is an effort to improve child health locally.
“The Ministry of Education, Training and Employment has partnered with The Ministry of Health, Environment, Youth, Sports and Culture to implement the programme. It is funded between the two ministries.
“The programme is being pushed now because many of our young people are becoming involved with crime or struggle with obesity. An independent study commissioned by the Ministry of Health highlighted that up to 40 per cent of students in the secondary schools are considered obese. These statistics are staggering.
“It is important because the programme will: support the continued development of students self-esteem and confidence, reduce students involvement in negative activities at 3pm-5:30pm, increase positive socialization while enhancing sports skills and reduce rates of obesity and other illness caused by lack of physical activity.”
Government’s push for school sports is a welcome boon to what is already available to kids. Most of the sporting bodies on Grand Cayman have initiatives in place to attract youngsters such as the Cayman Islands Basketball Association’s Under-14 league (sponsored by KPMG).
Myles states the response so far is positive and there are plans to include more activities.
“Approximately 900 students have been in the programme since its inception. The response has been overwhelming. Our students have enjoyed it and parents are happy that there is a programme like this that extends beyond 4pm. To ensure that every student from every district takes part, we provide busing to all students to all districts free of charge.
“We are hoping to expand the programme to accommodate vocational and the performing arts activities. To successfully implement these, we need persons from the community to volunteer their services. These activities do not have to be five days a week, they can be one day a week for two hours. Many of our children are taking part in 2-3 activities per week.
“We have already begun implementing this programme in our primary schools. George Town and East End Primary have established programmes as of September and October 2011. We are preparing to launch a programme at Red Bay Primary, which will support students from Prospect and the Lighthouse School. We are anticipating that this programme will host approximately 60-70 students from those three schools. We need additional funding to implement programmes at North Side and Bodden Town Primary schools.”
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