By Ben Bilua

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Guam’s National Olympic Committee (GNOC) is looking at reinvigorating its’ National Sporting Federations after completing the Management in Sports Organisations (MiSO) course last month.

Oceania Sports Education Program (OSEP) Coordinator for Zone 1, Jubilee Kuartei said, the online MiSO Course was mandated by the Guam National Olympic Committee for all executive members of National Federations to strengthen and improve their administrations.

Kuartei said the training was the first to be done online and the outcome was very positive.

The President of Guam National Olympic Committee who is also the Oceania National Olympic Committee’s Secretary General, Rick Blas led the way by attending the training with three National Federation leaders from the Cyclist Federation, Trampoline Federation, and National Tennis Federation, supported by Guam’s OSEP Master Educator Joey Miranda III.

Describing the training, Rick Blas said, the delivery of the course was a blessing for Guam’s National Olympic Committee and its membership.

Blas said that he is confident that National Federation leaders now will establish new approaches that will ensure sporting events are managed well and at the same time better manage their organization amidst the challenges posed by COVID 19.

Blas emphasized that both MiSO and MOSO (Managing Olympic Sport Organisation) training programs cover important components like how to establish a good national federation as well as understanding the structure of the Olympic movement.

“One of the reasons behind introducing this course is due to the fact that in many cases (here in Guam) the federations are led by people that do not understand their role, some treat it like a club or personal club while others treat it differently, in the sense of what best serves their interest and not the interest of the national federation, some even lost perspectives of why they were involved in the Olympic movement.

“So, the MiSO program is designed to enhance national federation officials’ knowledge and ability to manage their national federations.

“And of course, the structure behind that is, the Guam National Olympic Committee by now mandated that any national federation official taking on a leadership role must now have MiSO and MOSO behind their belt to back their administrative duties and responsibilities,” Blas stressed.

Jeff Bristol, the Vice President of the Guam National Tennis Federation said the training was an eye opener and very helpful.

“What I learn from this course will assist our federation in creating policies that would align with the Guam National Olympic Committee.

“But more importantly it will help us identify strength and weaknesses in sponsorship development, fundraising, marketing, financial management, long term strategy and development.

“The bottom line is that, the athletes are at the heart of what we are working for and this course will help the federation better support them,” Bristol added.

OSEP Master Educator and Secretary General of the Guam Trampoline Federation, Melanie Torre shared similar sentiment saying that administering the MISO Course online was a learning experience.

“It taught me how to navigate our meeting platform to meet the needs of the course and our national federations.

“The benefit of online learning includes; time efficiency and active engagement during sessions,” Torre added.

Tara Tydingco, OSEP Master Educator and Athletic representative for the Guam Cyclist Federation said, the online training encouraged the participants to engage and participate from their comfort zones.

She said participants discussed ways of improving their organizations as well as compliance mechanisms despite the threat of COVID-19.

Joey Miranda III, OSEP Master Educator with Guam National Olympic Committee said COVID 19 has presented many challenges over the past months but these can be opportunities; one of which is the evolution of the virtual MiSO course.

Miranda III said one new challenge is to ensure that all our organization are provided the tools to ensure they are ready to tackle the obstacles in the coming months and years ahead.

“I would like to thank OSEP for the opportunity to present the first virtual MISO workshop as well as for the contribution of the other master educators,” Miranda added.

He said the course was presented to executives and board members of nine national federations and is guaranteed to ensure continued deliverance of sport programs throughout the year.

Jubilee Kuartei said the content was well received by the participants with most expressing how much they valued the learnings in their post-course evaluation.

Kuartei said the next steps will be for National Federations to complete the eOSEP Building Better Management (BBM) Course as well as the advanced Sport Management Course (MOSO).

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The Management in Sporting Organisations (MiSO) training program

By Ben Bilua

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The Management in Sporting Organisations (MiSO) training program is a delivered in the Pacific by the Oceania Sports Education Program (OSEP).

The program specifically addresses the development needs of people who are actively working with clubs or federations (whether paid or voluntarily), to manage and administer sport in the Pacific.

OSEP was established in 2007 through a partnership between the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), the Olympic Sports Federations of Oceania (OSFO) and the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC).

OSEP aims to improve the practical skills of coaches, officials and administration. It is made up of numbers of competency-based training programs with strong emphasis in practical activities and learning to provide the foundation for the development of coaches, officials and administrators.

It is designed to provide a regional approach to sport education in the pacific through flexible and relevant training in the areas of coaching, officiating, administration and assessor/presenter training.  OSEP can also provide the foundation to assist sports to develop specific courses.

Around 6756 sport officials from across the ONOC membership have been awarded with OSEP certification between 2013 to 2019.

The Guam National Olympic Committee was the recent ONOC member to have completed the MiSO training program in July this year.

A total of 27 participants representing 9 National Federations and 2 Commissions (Medical and Anti-Doping Commissions) completed the training under close supervision of Jubilee Kiruu Kuartei, the OSEP Coordinator for Zone 1 (Northern Pacific) and OSEP Regional Master Educator Joey Miranda III.

According to Kuartei, a total of 80 officials from the Northern Pacific have undergone MiSO trainings since 2017 and these official are from Federal State of Micronesia, Guam and Marshall Islands.  

OSEP Coordinator, Sainimili Saukuru says MiSO also strengthens the capacity of National Federation officials and NOC Board members in the running of proper Annual General Meetings (AGMs) as well as internal executive meetings.

Saukuru also highlights that there have been improvements seen through the promotion of MiSO graduates to full-time paid roles and the method to deliver the training she says, fits in well with international, national and domestic sporting leadership roles and obligations.

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