The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) is on track and getting better at growing a healthy society, through its collaborations with organisations and communities in sport.
Sport is one of NGC’s most sustained platforms for community-based intervention. Initiatives date back to the 1990s, when Olympic Gold Medallist, Hasely Crawford, as the company’s Head, Community Relations put his dreams of Track and Field development for Trinidad and Tobago into action.
Over the past two decades of Corporate Social Responsibility, targeting youth development and communities through sporting programmes, NGC has progressed beyond the role of benefactor and funder. Today, it is partnering with the national sporting organisations which govern athletics, cricket and basketball to improve governance and modernize their management practices in sport.
National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA)
NGC signed a three-year agreement (2015-2017) with the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA), to support the implementation of the Association’s strategic plan and to facilitate its transition to a model administration demonstrating good governance, transparency and accountability.
The agreement followed the company’s initial one-year sponsorship of NAAA. Review of performance targets in 2014 showed that the Association had made significant headway in achieving its initial priorities. These included doubling the number of technical officials, and attracting more volunteers. The volunteers were trained and went on to support the activities at championship events hosted by the NAAA.
With this support from NGC, the association has made progress towards some key objectives, including but not limited to:
- Development of a draft constitution
- Training and developmental workshops hosted for coaches
- Improved staging of local competitions specifically the Open, Junior and Juvenile Championships
- Athlete development in the form of technical and developmental workshops which covered topics such as anti-doping; responsible decision-making; use of social media; stress management; sports psychology and travel protocols
- Recruitment of technical officials and volunteers for better management of championship events
Other initiatives to benefit from the funding include:
- “Kid Athletics” programme
- Developmental meets
- Participation and presentation for international meets
- Capacity building
NGC Right on Track
The NGC Right on Track (ROT) programme began in 1999. It was school-based throughout the education districts in Trinidad and Tobago. After one year, it was assessed and re-formatted into a programme of “coaching caravans” carrying equipment and coaching staff into communities on the weekdays, Saturday or Sunday (in the case of Tobago) to extend the reach to a larger number of participants.
In 2005, NGC was approached by the Trinidad and Tobago Schools’ Basketball Association to introduce basketball as part of the coaching caravan; it was a natural add-on to NGC’s sponsorship of the Schools’ Basketball League.
Today, when the caravan comes to a community, coaches conduct Track and Field and Basketball training. Before 7:30 a.m. equipment is set up and coaches are available on playing fields. Eager families bring their energetic youngsters, 8 to 19, for an enjoyable day of focused development. Communities in Couva, Moruga and Point Fortin, and those along the “fenceline” to NGC’s facilities are the first beneficiaries.
In each quarter, the caravan moves into different parts of Trinidad and Tobago. Later, the programme was opened to institutions including the St. Mary’s Home, St. Jude’s, St. Dominic’s, St. Michael’s Home for Boys and the Youth Training Centre (YTC) whose gymnasium was restored by NGC and is now a multi- purpose hall, allowing the institution to
be very active in the Schools’ Basketball League.
Since 1999, NGC’s Right on Track Development Programme (ROT) has recorded 15,199 participants in 105 communities and 8 institutions, training 88 coaches and forming or restoring 7 sport clubs.
The NGC Right on Track supplements the school-based physical education programme. It continues to provide infrastructural support to clubs, in the form of jumping pits and equipment. The programme also facilitates participation of larger numbers of primary school students in regional and zonal competitions.
The NGC Right on Track programme now includes the NAAA Kids Athletics (Track and Field training) and the NBFTT Mini to Masters Basketball Programme components as feeders for the younger age groups. These partnerships have allowed the ROT team to complete and record assessments and evaluations with a path to continuity.
National Cricket
Since 2012, NGC has been a sponsor of the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team and the official T20 partner of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) in support of its developmental programmes. This is part of NGC’s wider objective to develop cricket at the youth club and national levels.
In 2014, NGC renewed its commitment to TTCB for a three-year period (2014-2016) with a sponsorship package that covered the company’s title sponsorship of the T-20 Festival Competition, sponsorship of the Grassroots Development programme, support to Women’s Cricket, support of the National Cricket Academy, sponsorship of the 50 Over finals and support to the Tobago Cricket Association as well as umpires and the zones.
The NGC/TTCB Academy is an intensive eleven-week camp that provides the opportunity for a crucial turning point in the development of local cricketers. It is preparing players for the next steps in their careers, regardless of their current level. Attendees are exposed to video analyses of their game. They work with a team of coaches to identify their shortcomings and improve their techniques in batting and bowling. The attendees take part in physical sessions, net sessions and fielding. It also allows talented young cricketers insight into the game, and informs their own decisions to pursue it to the highest levels. The programme allows for personal growth, renewed sense of purpose and the will to succeed.
The 2015 session of the NGC/TTCB Cricket Academy was held at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva from October to December. The first eighteen candidates attended the Academy for eleven weeks, under the administration of Naushad Mohammed. The inductees to the Academy were chosen through the TTCB competitions, including the NGC T20 Cricket Festival, The National League, 50-over Cricket Tournament and the Secondary Schools Cricket League. The criteria to qualify to attend the Academy included: skill and dexterity on the field; the potential to progress in order to play at regional, national and international levels; and consistency, persistence and passion for the game.
NGC’s long term goals for the Programme
- To introduce and consolidate the fundamental motor skills (run, jump, throw) in participants as they apply and make the best use of their talent to reach their fullest potential.
- To establish the practice of mass participation in physical activity in order to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago sustains the development of well-coordinated athletes who can meet qualifying standards to compete at the local, regional and international levels.
- To create further opportunities for building capacity in the area of coaching education.
- To further contribute to and shape lives of children and young people and their communities – this will (i) build capacity in the area of track and field and (ii) enable the ROT Coaching Caravan to be more effective in its delivery.
- To promote national interest in, and support for, track and field events, that is stimulated through the achievement of participants in general and athletes in particular at local, regional and international levels.
- To contribute to the current primary education policy, which specifies that physical education is to be examined as part of the Secondary Entrance Assessment Examination.