Eight young Canadians are to share their enthusiasm, knowledge and experience with Commonwealth sports organisations on three continents as Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) kick off the fourth year of their successful International Sport Intern Program, formerly the Capacity Support Program.
The program sends young people with sport administration backgrounds to work with developing Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) around the world. The aim is to provide practical, hands-on assistance, new ideas and a lasting legacy to smaller sports organisations, so they are better able to support their athletes and their national ambitions. As well as making a difference to the sport management capabilities of these groups, the exposure to new cultures and the opportunity to develop new skills means the interns become different themselves.
These talented young Canadians, who will be placed in Swaziland, Sri Lanka, Barbados, St. Lucia, Tonga, Scotland and the Cayman Islands, include four new recruits and three returning interns. New to the program are Laura Dowling and Keyva Lashley of Ottawa, Ellen Kim of Vancouver, and Mike Kwiatkowski of Calgary. Returning are Ella Mawdsley of Fort Smith, N.W.T., Colin Whitmee of Antigonish, N.S. and Jessica Wolfenden, also of Ottawa. All seven share a passionate belief in the transformative power of sport, and together represent a diverse array of sports, including track and field, football, volleyball, rhythmic gymnastics, field hockey, biathlon and skeleton.
Laura Dowling (Swaziland Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association — 6 months)
A carded member of Canada’s National Field Hockey Team from 2002 to 2010, Laura has been immersed in sport for much of her life. After completing her B.A. in Sociology at the University of British Columbia—where she was a member of the Women’s Field Hockey Team—Laura went on to the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, from which she graduated in 2011 with a Master’s of Science in Physical Activity and Population Health. While overseas, she coached field hockey at high schools in Canterbury, England and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Last summer, she served as Hockey Head Coach at the Language and High Performance Hockey Camps in Timmendorf, Germany. Since 2010, Laura has also acted as an Ambassador for Ottawa-based KidSport.
