Former West Indies batting star Brian Lara heads the cast of speakers for this year’s Atlantic Secondary Schools leadership symposium, which will take place from Monday to Wednesday at Petrea Hall, Centre of Excellence.
Lara is expected to address hundreds of fifth and sixth form students at what is the 17th edition of the event which is hosted by The Sports Desk, and which will be opened by Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith.
The former West Indies batting legend said he was eagerly looking forward to being part of the programme which he noted has been playing an important role in assisting the young population as they take their first steps into adulthood.
Lara’s keynote presentation will be the highlight of Monday’s opening and will reflect the event’s theme ‘Champions’. A number of other national athletes and other outstanding citizens, will also make presentations during the three-day affair.
Shaka Hislop, the former Soca Warriors goalkeeper who is now a dynamic face on ESPN will be presenting on Wednesday on ‘The Role Model’. Hislop will be taking two days off from his job at ESPN to be part of the event.
He arrives in Trinidad on Tuesday and will return to the USA after his presentation on Wednesday. “I had to do some pushing to get the time off but I did, and I am very happy to be back home among our young people to see how best we can motivate them to become better citizens.”
Sportswoman of the Year, Cleopatra Borel, will be the headline speaker on day two. She will speak on ‘The power of the mind’ and expressed excitement at returning for her second stint at the event.
Among the other speakers are Miss T&T World Sarah-Jane Waddell, inspirational speaker Don La Foucade, rugby’s ‘Female Player of the Year’ Ornella George, former World Boxing Champion Ria Ramnarine, national gymnast Thema Williams and Paralympic medallist Carlos Greene.
Apart from title sponsors Atlantic, several other organisations have given support to the programme. These include Blink-bmobile, First Citizens, Toyota, the National Gas Company, Scotiabank, Civil Aviation Authority, Angostura, The Fan Club, Sportt.
Programme
Monday
Honourable Darryl Smith, Minister of Sport
Brian Lewis, President TTOC
Brian Lara, ORTT, International Sporting Icon ‘CHAMPIONS’
Sarah-Jane Waddell, Miss T&T World 2014 ‘SUCCESS’
Don La Foucade, Motivational Speaker ‘The world within’
Tuesday
Ria Ramnarine, Former Women’s World Boxing Champion ‘Beyond Toughness’
Ornella George, Women’s Rugby Player of the Year, ‘Belief’
Thema Williams, National Gymnastic Champion, ‘Balancing Act’
Cleopatra Borel, Sportswoman of the Year—’Power of The Mind’
Wednesday
Carlos Greene, Paralympic athlete “The bright side”
Shaka Hislop, former Soca Warriors World Cup goalkeeper, ESPN Analyst ‘The ROLE MODEL’