Game On! Youth Sports, a first-of-its-kind approach to providing kids with opportunities to reap the benefits of physical activity, is being implemented in Dominica's Eastern District school system.

 

The goal of the in-school program is to educate every child in the school system about the benefits of playing sports and then have sports opportunities available to them in the after school hours and on weekends to participate in the already established Game On! Youth Sports program.

 

The Eastern District in Dominica is comprised of 14 primary schools. Game On! Youth Sports was launched in Dominica earlier this year by the National Alliance For Youth Sports.

 

It is focused on giving kids in under-developed regions of the world the chance to learn and play a variety of sports in a fun setting with minimum adult involvement.

 

"We worked closely with government officials in Dominica to train four Game On! Youth Sports instructors that are responsible for traveling to each of the schools once a week and administering the Game On! program," says John Engh, vice president of Youth Development for NAYS. Engh, along with NAYS President Fred Engh and NAYS board member Dr. Michael Gray, recently traveled to Dominica to meet with the country's Minister of Education and its Chief Education Officer to finalize the program, which is now underway.

 

Two sports will be introduced during each grading period, which will include cricket, baseball, basketball, soccer, netball and volleyball. Dominica is situated in the Eastern Caribbean, about halfway between Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago.