The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) is encouraged by the reception to its first online staging of the Stamina Education series, which attracted a record number of participants from Jamaica and across the region.
Staged under the theme “Eat Fit”, the workshop pulled in its first numbers over 80, in its sixth staging last Thursday that featured presentations from nutritionists sharing information on optimal nutrition and hydration for people in sport.
Novelette Harris, the JOA’s member relations manager, said she was overjoyed with the workshop and level of participation.
“We are delighted to have presented the sixth episode in our Stamina Education series. In partnership with the Jamaica Association of Sports Medicine (JASM), the just-concluded Eat Fit nutrition workshop was hosted live on Zoom and YouTube with over 80 participants — our highest numbers ever — joining from Jamaica and the Caribbean region.
“The rich content presented and demonstrated by highly qualified nutritionists provided practical and applicable information to guide athletes, coaches and fitness enthusiasts,” added Harris. “Hosting the session online is a first for us and is an option that we will build on and continue as this avenue opens the stamina door to our friends in the region and beyond.”
The apex body for sports’ member relations manager also shared the JOA’s vision behind the project.
“The Stamina Education series was launched in October 2018 to support the mandate of education and training through the Jamaica Olympic Association,” said Harris. “The series presents content-rich workshops, seminars and lectures aimed at imparting information and knowledge relevant to our member federations.
“The sessions have consistently received overwhelming support with between 50-70 sport professionals attending sessions in past stagings and now 80 in this first online workshop — a demonstration of the voracious appetite that the sport fraternity has for continuous learning and improvement,” she observed.
The five previous workshops covered the topics i) Physical, emotional and financial endurance; ii) Managing politics in sport; iii) Manual therapy and hamstring rehabilitation; iv) Advanced principles of kinesiology and biomechanics; and v) Applying kinesiology to weight training.
Facilitators for those stagings include nutritionist Patricia Thompson; financial advisor Loeri Robinson; adjunct lecturer Dalton Myers; counselling psychologist Beverley Baugh — all from Jamaica; in addition to Australian physiotherapist Dr Joanne Brown and Professor Mauricio de Arruda Campos from Brazil.
Facilitators for the just-concluded Eat Fit workshop were nutritionists Patricia Thompson, Shanika Morgan, Gabrielle Julal and Dr Claudia Campbell.
Audrey Brown, general secretary, JASM, said the workshop was timely.
“The Jamaica Association of Sports Medicine is distinctly delighted for the opportunity to collaborate with the Jamaica Olympic Association in this Eat Fit workshop. We are very appreciative of the support of the JOA to our association over the years, most recent of these being our four-member nutritionists as beneficiaries of the just-completed virtual Pan Am XXI Conference on Nutrition, Health & Sport.
“We view this as especially needed and timely in this COVID-19 period of much uncertainty as our shared stakeholders become better equipped towards attaining greater health and wellness through the latest counselling and recommendations from our nutritionists,” Brown added.
Harris pointed out that the workshops, seminars and lectures were facilitated by subject matter experts through collaboration with corporate entities JASM, Jamaica Amateur Bodybuilding & Fitness Association (JABBFA) and the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness (IFBB).
Dr Kevin Gwyn Jones, JASM president, also endorsed this latest staging.
“The Jamaica Association of Sports Medicine is in full support of the stamina series, Eat Fit, hosted by the JOA in collaboration with the JASM and being presented by JASM nutritionists, who recently participated in the recent online International Olympic Committee nutrition course. The topics were of great benefit to athletes, coaches and sporting individuals at all levels. The JASM endorses and encourages this venture,” he said.
