St. Vincent and the Grenadines was chosen as one of three pilot islands for the Game On! Youth Sports in-school initiative.

 

The initial workshop in 2007 featured 17 participants, which consisted of primary school teachers and Ministry of Sport youth coaches. At the completion of the workshop, the Game On! Caribbean office and the St. Vincent Ministry of Education, were able to determine the following schools for the Game On! pilot in St. Vincent: Kingstown Preparatory, CW Prescod School, Sion Hill Government and Stubbs Government.

 

Since its inception in 2007, a follow-up workshop was conducted in May, where it was announced by the Ministry of Education in St. Vincent that they intend to use the Game On! Youth Sports program as the main resource tool for the application of the new Primary School Physical Education curriculum. This curriculum was implemented in September in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

 

Their government has applied to the World Bank for funding to purchase equipment and the manuals that will sustain the Game On! program in schools across the country.

 

With 2,000 children actively participating in four schools, St. Vincent awaits approval of funding to spread the Game On! program to all schools throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

 

As one participant said when asked about the impact of Game On! in schools in their country, “Physical Education classes could be more efficient if teachers are more knowledgeable about what to teach and how to teach it. This has been the most significant change to me. It is imperative that the entire staff, parents, community leaders and the government understand that the Game On! program is not only about sports, but the all-around development of the individual child and that important and noticeable behavioral changes are made because of the design of the program. Each session must be student-based and even with the Big 4 (the core principles of Game On!), it must be ensured that in the final analysis the children must have fun.”