This Week in NACAC 8 February 2021 (English)

Thursday 4 February was a very special day for NACAC as the organisation’s Athletes’ Commission convened with some 35 members for what was its first Information Session.

NACAC President, Mike Sands, was on hand to deliver an official welcome to all participants.

Chair of the NACAC Athletes’ Commission, Kineke Alexander, delivered some brief opening remarks before the coordinator of the proceedings, NACAC Council member, Cydonie Mothersill took charge.

The participants were treated to some videos produced by NACAC athletes: Shaunae Miller- Uibo, Steve Gardner, Elaine Thompson-Heath, Machel Cedenio, Yohan Blake, Wesley Vazquez, Yanique Russell, Kendal Williams and Carolina Vargas.

In their videos the athletes gave their respective nationalities and highlighted the importance of the NACAC Athletes’ Commission as the voice of all athletes of our Area.

All participants were invited to introduce themselves before the grouping discussed the fundamentals of the NACAC Athletes’ Commission, its mandate and their engagement in it.

Jamaica, Caribbean, World and Olympic Champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, moderated the final but feature session where she fielded questions from athletes to Brett Clothier of the World Athletics Athletes’ Integrity Unit. (AIU).

Athletes in attendance committed to working to establish the NACAC Athletes’ Commission as the most progressive in the world. The strategy going forward is for each one in attendance to inform another athlete, at least, about the Commission’s existence and encourage them to get involved.

The NACAC Athletes’ Commission is already planning an educational programme, called, The Athletes Pathway, in collaboration with the NACAC Development Commission.

IOC issues first Playbook for the Tokyo Olympics 2020

Insistent that sport can overcome immense hurdles, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), during the past week, issued its first Playbook. This one is directed at International Federations.

Kit McConnell, IOC Sports Director in his introductory segment labelled, Stronger Together, stated,

“We look forward to the moment when the power of sport and of the Games will unite everyone, and athletes will inspire the world once again. Stronger than ever, stronger together. Your contribution as an IF representative is vital to what the world will be focusing on – the field of play and the athletes – and we thank you in advance for your role.

To achieve this, we each have our part to play. The health and safety of everyone at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 is our top priority. Building on the experience of each International Federation in their responsible return to sport, this Playbook has been created to outline the rules that will allow each and every one of us to contribute to safe and successful Games. It has been developed to ensure it best supports your role and needs.”

The Playbook carefully identifies the fundamental principles – Minimize physical interaction, test, trace and isolate, and think hygiene. Then follows the best practices for the journey from one’s home, what to expect on entering Japan, during the Games, leaving Japan and the return to one’s home.

The Playbook is simple but delivers its important health content in a most effective manner.

NACAC has already provided copies of the Playbook to its Council members.

The NACAC Medical and Anti-Doping Commission has also been in receipt and will make use of the information in the formulation of our own approaches to ensuring that all of our stakeholders are aware of what is required in these challenging times brought upon us by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The second Playbook will focus on National Olympic Committees which are responsible for the representative teams of participating countries in the Tokyo Olympics.

Athletics Canada Commits to strengthening NACAC

At a meeting with NACAC President, Mike Sands, and General Secretary, Keith Joseph, on Monday 1 February 2021, Chief Executive Officer of Athletics Canada, David Bedford, committed to working towards ensuring that NACAC is so strengthened that it can stand proud as the strongest Area Association in World Athletics.

With NACAC having the best athletes in the world it only stands to reason that we should be able to become and sustain leadership amongst Area Associations, the meeting agreed.

Monday’s meeting also agreed to the systematic development of a NACAC Circuit that places much emphasis on the ‘next generation’ of athletes in order to sustain a viable, consistent flow of elite athletes in the global arena.

One of the important conclusions of the meeting is that this may well be the ideal time to craft a well-structured marketing strategy for NACAC that can facilitate greater independence in all aspects of its work.

Finally, it was agreed that greater effort must be made to ensure that member federations work towards avoiding the practice of withdrawing athletes who have already been registered for NACAC Championships, after the deadline for final entries have passed. This puts too much pressure on host member federations which would have expended significant resources and time in planning for a successful event. Indeed, NACAC is intent on following World Athletics in addressing this particular problem and appropriate recommendations for dealing with it will soon be placed before the general membership.

World Athletics/NACAC discuss Development

President Mike Sands and General Secretary, Keith Joseph, were, on Tuesday 2 February,  engaged in a meeting with World Athletics’ Helen Delaney, Director, International Relations & Development Department, Laurent Boquillet, Head of Global Development, International Relations & Development Department, and Vicky Brennan, Area Liaison Manager,
International Relations and Development.

The cordial discussions addressed the structure of NACAC with particular emphasis on the Development Department, the work plan of the Department and the availability and use of the World Athletics Elearning platform.

The parties agreed to regular meetings going forward. The next meeting is set for 15 February 2021.

NACAC Weekly Meeting

On Wednesday 3 February 2021, the weekly meeting of President Sands, General Secretary, Joseph and Director of Competitions, Serralta, was held as scheduled.

Regarding the NACAC Calendar discussions organisers of Area Permit Meets have been reminded of the need to submit their applications in a timely manner.

Nicaragua appears to be on track relative to their hosting of the NACAC Age Group Championships this year.

The new NACAC Bid Document has been completed and is already in use. The NACAC Competition Regulations are being revised such that they can be tailored to the different types of competitions organised by the Area.

The meeting also learnt of the progress being made in Bermuda regarding the Carifta Games 2021. Already the member federation has reported that arrangements have been confirmed for the hotel accommodation for delegations to the Games on the new dates agreed by the NACAC Council.

Updates on the preparations being undertaken by Guyana for the 50^th anniversary of the Carifta Games were discussed.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 10 February at 10.00am.

President Coe met Area Presidents

On Friday 5 February 2021 World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe, convened the first meeting for the year with Area Association Presidents. This meeting came one week after he met with member federations.

As was the case in his meeting with member federations, President Coe stressed the fact that as the world’s leading sport for individuals, athletics will be centre stage at the Tokyo Olympics in July-August.

While the pandemic has posed many challenges for all sports, World Athletics has been able to continue with activities in different formats across the world. Our athletes have continued to train and their performances continue to be outstanding with new world records being broken from time to time. This signals the leadership of our sport in the global environment.

The next five years will witness a flurry of major events in which athletics will feature and showcase its consistent work in terms of ensuring athlete development around the world.

World Athletics recognises the importance of all of its stakeholders and will continue to ensure that its Area Associations and member federations are encouraged to act in concert with the international federation, committed to the vision, “to use the power and accessibility of athletics and our athletes to create a healthier and fitter world”.