Bermuda is getting serious about physical literacy and quality sport development.
Consisting of 181 islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, the British territory began participating in the Summer Olympics in 1936 and in the Winter Olympics in 1992. Since then their national sport organizations have been making steady progress, taking home their first gold medal in triathlon at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – making them the smallest country to ever achieve this at a summer games. Now they’ve partnered with Sport for Life to continue fine-tuning their long-term athlete development system.
Bermuda currently has five stated goals for their country’s sport system:
#1. Increase participation
#2. Achieve sporting excellence regionally
#3. Improve access to sport facilities
#4. Increase the value of sport
#5. Establish a framework for talent development
Currently the two most popular sports in Bermuda are cricket and football, and they have a two-day public holiday called Cup Match which is dedicated to cricket. Other popular sports include golf, squash, tennis and rugby – and they have the highest golf course density per square mile of any island in the world.
Bermuda has begun implementing the Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity framework into their system, with most sports having either started development or completed a LTD model.
“We have worked with Bermuda over the years so there is a pretty good understanding of long-term development in sport and physical activity,” said Sport for Life CEO Richard Way. This longer term agreement is allowing us to get together with the Bermuda Government, National Olympic Committee and all their National Sport Governing Bodies to really dig deep and create whole system change. It is really exciting to work with such great passionate people who want to make real change.”
Learn more about the Long-Term Development framework here.
