Speeches

Cricket for Good-Fiji Project at the Center for Appropriate Technology and Development

Permanent Secretary for Youth and Sports
Mr. Rovereto Nayacalevu
Official Remarks at  Nadave
Saturday 4th December, 2021, 7:30pm


Salutation:

• Chairman and Board
• Representatives from the Australia High Commission
• Coordinator Oceania for Child Fund Sports for Development Program, Makelesi Bulikiobo
• Facilitators and Trainers;
• Director CATD Nadave;
• Invited Guests;
• Participants;
• Ladies and Gentlemen;


Bula Vinaka and a very good evening to you all.

Thank you, Cricket Fiji, for the invitation to officiate at tonight’s closing of your weeklong workshop. From the Ministry of Youth and Sports, I would like to commend Cricket Fiji and Child Fund the facilitation of this workshop.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Cricket for Good-Fiji is an integrated cricket and like skills programme that provides a safe, inclusive and structured learning environment designed to equip children and young people to overcome challenges, develop peer support networks, and drive change to promote gender equality and elimination of violence, of any form, in their communities.

Community based coaches have been provided with training and are accredited and mentored to deliver the Cricket for Good-Fiji curriculum to children involving cricket-relevant experiential life-skills education, cricket coaching and officiating, safeguarding, first aid, data collection and event management.

Cricket Good -Fiji is developed specially for young Fijians. It is adapted from and informed by evidence and learnings from the Cricket for Good pilot in Papua New Guinea, designed by Child Fund in collaboration Cricket Australia and the International Cricket Council and implemented through Cricket PNG. It is based on Child Fund award-winning sport development programme, Pass It Back.

On the 4th of March of this year, Fiji through the invitation of the Australian High Commission launched the Team UP program together with other 5 Pacific Island Countries. We were so proud to witness the 6 National Sporting Organisation that were awarded with the opportunity to work with Child Fund in the implementation of this program in Fiji. With Child Funds support, Cricket Fiji is developing safeguarding Children in Sport guidelines to ensure children and vulnerable adults are physically and emotionally safe while participating in Cricket Fiji activities beyond the life of the programme.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Government recognises the importance of a well-managed sporting community and more importantly a healthy and physically enabled nation.

This workshop, I understand, was designed with a goal of at least 50% community-based youth female coaches in a sport currently dominated by males, the programme intentionally creates opportunities for positive role models to lead by example and to challenge accepted, negative gender stereotypes and inspire change.

I sincerely hope that the last few days in this workshop has strengthened your knowledge and has imparted within you innovative goals to work towards.

More importantly I am optimistic that this programme will have a positive impact on your lives and in your respective communities.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let us also continue to highlight the importance of standing international and regional frameworks, such as the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SAMOA Pathway, Framework for Pacific Regionalism, the Pacific Roadmap for Sustainable Development, the Kazan Action Plan, and the SPAPE Action Plan 2019 – 2030, which emphasises the importance of sports as a vehicle to drive development, promote peace and foster empowerment and inclusive participation.


Ladies and Gentlemen, as a coach you play a fundamental role in the make-up of your teams. You will have to understand the great responsibility placed upon you in that capacity with the task to instill good values and develop great individuals through a vibrant and healthy team culture.

It is a great responsibility and you will need the support of more than one person to help lead, develop and nurture your team and this is where sport administrators play an equal responsible role.


Ladies and Gentlemen, the foundation for building sports excellence in any country is good governance.

It is therefore important as office bearers to uphold the principles of accountability, transparency and equity for the good conduct of the sporting organisations and its impending plans. I thus call on each one of you to work together for the fulfilment of your combined aspirations.

Let me remind you all that sports is a basic human right and it has been regarded as an agent for social change. It has a multiple effect on any nation or society or team and above all its effect on any individual.

As your Ministry looking after Youth and Sports Development, we are not just looking at propelling sports in Fiji but delivering a holistic programme that is inclusive of all and is nondiscriminatory in any form.

We want to create an environment where people feel free to participate in any sporting activity, stay actively fit and physically healthy and at the same time be recognised for their efforts in the sporting arena.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Ministry provides assistance through Sports Trainings, equipment and development of sports facilities: we assist National Sporting Organisations through sports funding to further develop athletes’ skills and enhance their talents and includes international sports tours and hosting’s – to promote innovation in sports.

On the same note, workshops such as this also help us to improve our standards – objectively raising them to meet international standards.

Ladies and Gentlemen, before I close this wonderful event, I would like to share with you these words from the later Dr Myles Munroe “Character is developed, you can’t pray for it or fast for it. Character is the ability to go through test and still remain”. We have come through a tough period of lockdown and trying our individual best to live with the new norm. Your participation in this week’s workshop confirms this that you have endured the tough times and have been steadfast on your personal goal to develop yourselves. For that, I thank each and every one of you.

To Cricket Fiji and Child Fund, thank you for the vision to reach more Fijians in this space and we are always open for more collaborative efforts like these in the future especially when we are targeting the Youths and trying to solve the social issues that they encounter.

With those few words I now have much pleasure in declaring the Cricket Fiji Coaching Workshop closed.
Vinaka Vakalevu
And may God Bless Us All
And I Wish Everyone Merry Christmas and are Happy New Year.