11th Indian Ocean Islands Games in Madagascar |01 August 2023
Group photo of the young delegates with Ms Duval and SNYC representatives (Photo: Neil Sirame)
NOAS, SNYC host workshop for volet jeunesse delegates
Young Seychellois who will be involved in the youth component (volet jeunesse) programme of the forthcoming 11th Indian Ocean Islands Games in Madagascar, are now better informed about Olympism.
On Saturday morning, the National Olympic Academy of Seychelles, an arm of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Association (Socga), in collaboration with the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC), organised a workshop at the Olympic House, Roche Caïman, covering the fundamentals of the Olympic movement in relation to the Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) scheduled for August 23 to September 2 in Madagascar.
Speaking to Sports NATION, Stephanie Duval who coordinated the workshop, mentioned that the objective of the session was to share with the young delegates information about the Olympic movement and what to expect when they get to represent their country.
“This session was mainly to cover the concept behind the games and also for them to know how to interact with people of other nationalities in the region who will be taking part in the volet jeunesse programme,” said Ms Duval.
According to Ms Duval, it is a must for the group to be trained on Olympism before travelling as they will be living the Olympic values.
Ms Duval stated that since the start of the year they have been collaborating with the SYNC to run the workshop to educate selected delegates, adding that Saturday’s session was a continuation of the training.
“We have been doing these sessions for a while. We even held such workshops when Seychelles hosted the IOIG back in 2011,” said Ms Duval.
The session normally describes the origin and role of the governing body of the IOIG – the Conseil International des Jeux or CIJ – and how the games are organised.
At the end of the day’s workshop, the delegates were each awarded a certificate of participation.
To conclude Ms Duval expressed that they find it important to promote the Olympic ideals among the youths to educate them on the roles of National Olympic Academies.
Some 30 delegates under the age of 18 years will be representing Seychelles in the volet Jeunesse programme at the IOIG and they will take part in dancing, plays, youth assembly, cheer leading.
The youth component of the IOIG is for young people aged 14 to 17 years old from all the seven island nations.
Although not competitive, the programme provides young people with the opportunity to network, meet, demonstrate their artistic talents, take part in debates on specific themes, and learn about each other’s cultures. It is also a programme of CIJ which aims to encourage sharing and fraternity between young people from each country in the region in the Indian Ocean.
Neil Sirame