The BVI Olympic Committee (BVIOC) executive has welcomed Lindsey Nielsen, who recently joined the organisation, for a year as a Capacity Support Officer. Photo: Provided

Working in concert with Cleave Farrington, Executive Director, BVIOC, Nielsen is involved with improving the functionality of the physical premises of the BVIOC as well as helping with general administration and marketing. Photo: Provided

Working in concert with Cleave Farrington, Executive Director, BVIOC, Nielsen is involved with improving the functionality of the physical premises of the BVIOC as well as helping with general administration and marketing. Her remit includes setting up and implementing outreach programmes for the Regional Anti-Doping Organisation, and developing an efficient and effective synergy with National Federations.

Her role is to help build the capacity within the BVIOC and across the sporting community of the Virgin Islands.

One of her first engagements was to attend a Zeus training session, which was held in Barbados at the end of January. Zeus is a streamlined, web-based platform that allows Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to store all of their data in one place, easing the workload involved in preparation of teams for Games.

As Nielsen noted on the Canadian Commonwealth Games Federation website, “While working as a CSO I hope to be able to utilise my skills to help my host organization reach its goals for the year, while also gaining valuable experience for myself both on a professional and personal level. Sport and physical activity have been a large part of my life in some form or another over the past couple of decades. I am grateful I have had the opportunity to participate in sports, as I realize not everyone gets these chances.”

Having grown up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Lindsey says she is excited to build upon her current life experience by living and working in the Caribbean. Lindsey is a recent Dean’s Honor Roll graduate of Mount Royal University in Calgary, in Sport and Recreation.  She has worked on a number of sporting events, including the 2011 GranFondo Canada events and served as Race Director for Commonwealth Games Canada’s Game of Life Race in Calgary. Lindsey has also worked with the University of Calgary’s Sport Medicine Centre, and as a Kinesiology Consultant adapting a physical education programme to autistic youth.

Nielsen will make her first official presentation to National Federations at a meeting to be hosted by the BVIOC later this month.

This innovative sport development programme, which launched as a pilot programme in 2009, is co-funded by the Commonwealth Games Federation and by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Olympic Solidarity. Under the CSP, young Canadians with sport administration backgrounds are sent to work as Capacity Support Officers (CSOs) with Commonwealth Games Associations and National Olympic Committees in developing countries.

The programme’s goal is to augment the sport management capabilities of these organizations, thus reinforcing CGC’s mandate of encouraging international development through sport

“We are thrilled to have such a diverse and talented group of young Canadians making up our fifth team of CSOs under this unique programme,” said Brian MacPherson, Commonwealth Games Canada’s CEO. “In addition to providing their host organizations with much-needed capacity, the CSOs themselves will gain valuable international work experience and potentially expand their future career opportunities.“

Michael Hooper, Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), commented “I’m delighted that through the SportWORKS initiative we’re able to both contribute to the professional development of these young men and women, and support some of the smaller members of the Commonwealth sports family. Equality is one of our core values, and as 71 nations and territories participate in the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, we do all we can to fulfill our responsibility to help build their capacity thus enabling them to enhance their level of support for their athletes.”

Commonwealth Games Canada’s SportWORKS initiative is a collection of programme that send Canadian sport leaders to Commonwealth countries in regions such as Africa, the Caribbean and Oceania, as well as to Europe, for placements that range from one week to one year. During their placements, CSOs design and deliver sustainable sport programmes and assist each country in building sport system capacity.