Youngsters in Dominica haven't had a lot to smile about over the years when it comes to youth sports. A shortage of quality equipment, poor playing facilities and a fragile sports structure have contributed to a rather bleak youth sports landscape.

 

The National Alliance For Youth Sports - as part of its sweeping initiative to assist countries struggling to offer quality youth sports programming - will be providing training and resources to aid in Dominica's efforts to retool its existing makeup.

 

"This is going to be a very positive relationship," said Loreen Bannis-Roberts, the Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth Affairs for Dominica. "The Alliance is like our big brother, and they are helping a younger brother. We are dedicated and committed to making this work and the Alliance is going to assist us and guide us and be our mentor and tutor."

 

Dominica is situated in the Eastern Caribbean, about halfway between Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. More than 27 percent of the country's approximately 70,000 residents are 14-years-old or younger, and are craving opportunities to participate in programs that in the past have never been readily available.

 

"By and large, sports provide a wonderful experience for millions of children here in our country," said Fred Engh, founder and president of the Alliance, who was in Dominica for the official launch of the initiative in early February. "Our organization is dedicated to expanding these opportunities to countries like Dominica so that all children can benefit from participating in programs that focus on their physical and emotional well-being."

Initially, the Alliance's presence will be felt most strongly with the country-wide implementation of its Start Smart Sports Development Programs. The programs have been used in more than a dozen countries around the world and have proven to be extremely useful in providing children with a solid foundation of skills, and the confidence to perform them in a competitive setting.

 

During the official launch in Dominica, Start Smart representatives trained parents on how to best work with children in a youth sports setting. They also provided equipment to begin a series of Start Smart programs, which teach children as young as 3-years-old basic throwing, catching, kicking and batting skills needed for a fun and successful youth sports experience.

 

"Start Smart is going to have tremendous benefits for us," Bannis-Roberts said. "The kids are very excited. What's good about the program for Dominica is that we do not have a presence of parents at sports activities because it's not part of our culture, and based on the whole setting of the Start Smart program parents play a critical role, so this is going to really build good relations between parents and children."

 

Part of the Alliance's focus will also be to assist in training adult volunteers in Dominica who will eventually serve as coaches and league administrators for newly created programs that will be set up throughout the country.

 

"The launching of these sports programs in Dominica will provide a worldwide model for other countries and show that programs that are conducted by trained administrators, coaches and parents can have an enormous impact on children," said Engh, who foresees Dominica being just one of many countries the Alliance lends a helping hand to in the coming years.

 

In his address at the official announcement of the partnership Roosevelt Skerrit, the prime minister of Dominica, stated that the country needed to provide children with positive leisure time activities to prevent them from drifting to negative influences such as drugs and crime, and he emphasized that sports are one of the greatest tools to do that.

For a country struggling with a sluggish economy, and one that finds itself with 30 percent of its population stuck below the poverty line, the emergence of youth sports programs, and the equipment to play them, can make a huge impact simply by steering youngsters toward healthy activities to occupy their time.

 

"All around the country calls have been coming in," Bannis-Roberts said. "For a small country this is really going to have a positive effect on our whole thinking and our whole lifestyle of youth sports."

 

"We are starting with a clean slate in Dominica," adds Engh. "We have a wonderful opportunity to help thousands of children here, and this will happen by educating everyone involved on the true value of sports and operating programs in the proper manner from the outset."