Pacific Island countries are urged to tap into the ONOC-administered Sport Education Officer (SEO) Grant, funded by the Olympic Solidarity Programme.
The Oceania National Olympic Committees are extending this invitation to their 17 member National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The SEO Grant is managed by ONOC’s flagship Oceania Sport Education Programme (OSEP). It was designed and introduced in 2021 in a bid to improve the delivery of sport education in Pacific Island countries.
Meli Cavu, Chief Sport Education Programme Officer, who heads OSEP said, “Sport education through OSEP has been running since 2007 and an independent evaluation revealed there was a need for strengthening it in our NOCs.”
“The Sport Education Officer (SEO) Grant under Olympic Solidarity enables all NOCs to recruit a Sport Education Officer to help implement sport education.”
Cavu added, “Prior to this new quadrennium, the SEO positions were covered for eight NOCs – Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tuvalu.”
“This grant is for our NOCs to recruit sports education officers whose role it is to ensure capacity building of athlete entourages for Games, delivery of doping control education, training of national sporting federations, course coordination and compliance, delivery of IOC courses such as in sport medicine, and education initiatives that address gaps identified by the sports sector’s Readiness Assessment Tool (RAT), a diagnostic tool and a baseline for developing strategic plans.
“For our Pacific Island countries, the USD20,000 per year can go a long way to building sport education.
“Last year, only the Federated States of Micronesia Olympic Committee successfully applied for the grant – that’s only 6% of our membership and we’re aiming for at least a 50% utilisation rate which means we’re working toward a 44% increase in successful applications.”
2022 SEO Grant Incentives
The Sport Education Officer (SEO) Grant is available to all seventeen members of ONOC. However, the new incentives are only available to the fifteen Pacific Island member NOCs that have faced challenges in preparing applications. ONOC is confident the incentives will inspire smaller island-based NOCs to prepare successful applications.
Cavu said, “This year, to improve our grant utilisation we are offering the USD20,000 per NOC for the year and also going to add USD10,000 for members who successfully complete their application on our online platform by March 31.”
“Given the SEO Grant largely contributes to the salary of the SEO position, the extra USD10,000 will be provided to add to the sport education programme within the country making the successful application.
“For NOCs that miss the first window, there is a second, but lower incentive of USD5,000 for those that make a successful application by April 15.”
Cavu shared that the member NOCs are to send through their applications via the online platform, RELAY, which members are already using. A confirmation from ONOC Finance on the successful status of an application translates to confirmation and approval of budget, thence to payment.
The ONOC-administered Olympic Solidarity Programme supports member NOCs through annual grants for national activities, sport development officers, finance officers, and as of last year, sport education officers.
On a quadrennium basis, it provides support for regional and national games, sport equipment, and a one-off grant for the securing of land and building infrastructure, or a long-term lease to ensure every NOC has a home and income diversification opportunities.
Article adapted from the ONOC website.