Medal bonus that is performance based. Life skills Coaching. Preparing  our athletes for life after Olympic level sport.

Changing the culture is never easy or simple.

Getting support for Olympic athletes  in individual and team sports in an effort to allow them to achieve sustained competitive excellence is a vital priority.

But in doing so we must communicate the interests and protect the rights of athletes.

There are a number of areas that our athletes need to be better informed about these include anti-doping,  code of conduct, their right to due process.

Also important is assisting the athletes in recognizing their right to control and protect his or her own personal name, likeness and image.

As I have said before and made it very clear when the establishment of 10 Olympic Gold medals or more by 2024 (#10golds24) Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund was announced - we have to accept that our athletes dedicate the better part of their lives to fulfilling their dreams of representing their country be it at Olympics or otherwise. They overcome obstacles and pressure despite significant odds.

The central message  is that giving matters to our athletes.

Fundraising is essential and our athletes can’t do it on their own.

They need them to focus their attention on preparing to compete against the best  in the world.

Share the dream help our athletes achieve their dream .

There is a gap between perception and reality.

The perception that our athletes are well supported and that they make large sums of money or that the government support is enough and anything more is pure greed is furthest from the truth.

What the Athlete welfare fund is attempting to do is a long standing approach in countries  with a culture of philanthropy.

There is a reality and no amount of wishful thinking will change that reality.

We are at a point in Trinidad and Tobago sport where the option of doing nothing and letting false pride stand in the way of the athlete’s best interest is not a credible option.

Multiple revenue streams are necessary if the Olympic movement is to hedge against the volatility of depending on one revenue stream.

Doing nothing or doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is a failed strategy.

The idea behind the 10 Olympic Gold medals by the year 2024 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund is simple- ESTABLISH a fund that is transparent, ethical , accountable, sustainable and dedicated to supporting athletes.

To pledge financial support email; contact@ttoc.org or call 625 1285, Facebook: @trinidadandtobagoolympiccommittee, Twitter : @ttolympic

Brian Lewis

President

Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) and Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Games Association (TTCGA)

Editor's Note:  President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), Brian Lewis, has launched a new initiative with the social media handle, #10golds24, designed to give more of the country’s athletes the opportunity to fulfill their potential. He has committed to compete in the Trinidad and Tobago International Marathon on January 25, 2015 to raise awareness for  the #10golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund and TTD$500,000 (£51,000/$79,000/€65,000).  The Fund's mission is geared towards alleviating financial hardships of  Olympic, Pan Am, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games athletes to enable them to train, recover and compete.

Foreign-based T&T-born athletes Dexter St Louis and Rheann Chung were named the T&T Table Tennis Association (TTTTA) Senior Male and Female Players of the Year for 2014.

The announcements were made at Saturday’s annual awards ceremony hosted by the T&T Table Tennis Association (TTTTA) at the Central Indoor Regional Sports Arena at Saith Park in Chaguanas on Saturday.

St Louis secured a bronze for T&T at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Mexico, while Chung secured similar accolades at the Women’s singles, Pan American Sport Festival, Mexico City, Mexico in July; the Women’s Singles, International Table-Tennis Federation (ITTF) Latin American Championships, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (April).

Meanwhile, Aaron Wilson, 16, of Carenage Blasters and Brittany Joseph, 16 of Arima Hawks were named Junior Male and Female Players of the Year. It was reputed to be Joseph’s third Junior Players of the Year Award.

Interviewed, she said, “It’s shocking because I didn’t have such a good year this year. I wasn’t able to win as much prizes as I aimed for, but I was still able to achieve one or two of my goals.”

Wilson said his love of table tennis emerged when he realised that contact sports was not for him and he realised it was “a lot of fun to play.”

Reeza Burke, out-going president of the association said one of the major achievements for his executive was ensuring that “the mantle for representation of our national players on the senior team, being handed over to younger, more talented players. We know that in terms of long term development we are on the right track. Our focus on youth development over that past four years, have reaped rewards not only on the national scene, but also in the Caribbean. In term of challenges”

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Details have been released of the new headquarters the International Olympic Committee plan to build in Lausanne.

Olympic Unity House, which will be built next door to the IOC's current headquarters at Château de Vidy at a cost of CHF160 million (£107 million/$159 million/€137 million), has been created by Copenhagen-based architecture firm 3XN.

The winning design for the 18,000m² campus has an undulating façade that is meant "to evoke the energy and movement of athletes," claimed Jan Ammundsen, senior partner at 3XN, who were chosen ahead of more than 100 other international firms.

Inside, an open staircase formed by a series of staggered wood rings enlivens the space and "symbolically echoes the unifying aspirations of the Olympic rings".

Designed to be highly sustainable, the structure includes the use of lake water for building systems, photovoltaics for solar power, and optimised natural lighting.

It is estimated that the new headquarters will cost CHF100 million (£65 million/$99 million/€83 million) to build and a further CHF60 million (£39 million/$59 million/€49 million) to fit out.

The IOC plan to borrow up to 80 per cent of the cost and Ng Ser Miang, head of the organisation's Finance Commission, is currently in negotiations with three banks who have all offered an interest rate of less than one per cent.

A firm completion date has yet to be announced, but details of the design have been released to coincide with this year's centenary of the IOC making the Lausanne its permanent home.

The 2.4 hectare project is aiming to bring together all of the IOC's 600 staff who are currently spread across five different offices in the Swiss city onto one site.

"In recognition of the symbolism of the Olympic Games and needs of the organisation, we designed the new IOC headquarters around three key elements: movement, flexibility and sustainability," said Ammundsen.

"With its dynamic, undulating façade, the building will appear different from all angles and convey the energy of an athlete in motion.

"Its interior is designed with as few structural constraints as possible.

"This open and flexible environment will adapt to multiple work styles now and in the future.

"Our design is also intended to encourage interaction, communication and knowledge sharing among staff."

In 2012, the IOC was forced to temporarily close its headquarters and relocate staff after a burst water pipe caused extensive flooding, leading to damage to archives.

This all led to the consideration of an alternative headquarters being raised for the first time last year.

Some buildings on the current IOC headquarters site, including a multi-function centre built only in 2005, could be demolished but the Château de Vidy will stay having being officially recognised as a historical monument since 1971.

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National junior beach volleyball players, Malika Davidson and Chelsi Ward, anticipate a challenging year ahead as they take a step up by attempting to qualify for the 2015 Pan American Games which serves off in Toronto, Canada, from July 10-26.

Having gotten their feet wet on the international level at the 2014 Youth Olympics in China, Davidson and Ward are intent on making their mark.

On November 27, 2013, the athletes sealed their Youth Olympic spot by topping the Caribbean Volleyball Association Zonal NORCECA qualifiers at Maracas Bay. They have now shifted focus to compete at the senior level in an effort to qualify for the coming Pan Am. However, they will officially remain on the junior circuit as they also prepare for several Invitational and Under-20 tournaments within the coming months.

Speaking to head coach of the duo, Sean Morrison, recently, he described the preceding year as a success and a major stepping stone for himself and the two beach volleyballers.

“I would say that we had a good year on the circuit,” said Morrison. “Our preparations before (Youth Olympics) was about 80 percent with getting the girls together, training, heading to the gyms, court time, Maracas (Bay) training. We could have spent a bit more time in camps and preparation but it was still good enough. Moving forward for us, we are trying to prepare for the local Pan American Games qualifier. We will have to play some local qualifiers against some of the best senior teams in Trinidad and Tobago if we are to qualify. We expect it to be tough.”

Morrison also lauded the bravery shown by his athletic prospects and commended them for silencing several critics who thought his team would be unable to qualify for the Youth Olympics. As coach of the Davidson/ Ward combination for the past three years, Morrison expressed pleasure with the type of experience his athletes returned home with from the China experience.

Meanwhile, both Davidson and Ward were pleased with 2014 and revealed that they will be utilising their newfound knowledge.

“I found that it was a really productive year,” said the 17-year-old Ward.

“e worked really hard and trained for the entire summer to prepare for our Olympic performance. I thought we went out there and performed well. We advanced out of our group and that was very impressive for me. Progressing out of the groups alongside the greatest volleyball nations was indeed a personal and team achievement for us,” she added.

The Bishop Anstey High School pupil continued, “Watching the more experienced teams play, we learnt a lot from them. We saw some things that we need to do a bit more work and improve on with respect to our fitness levels and the type of game we play.”

Additionally, University of the Southern Caribbean (USC) Behavioural Sciences student, Davidson, shared similar sentiments on her just concluded year and welcomed the many challenges presented in the coming season.

“It was a success because we accomplished our goal of making it to the Olympics and coming out of the group was the highlight for us,” added Davidson. Playing (on the Youth Olympic stage) was a really good experience for me. I remember viewing some games of the other top nations and it has helped me a lot. Seeing how they handle some of the situations during games has helped me a lot even though we all play differently.

We also played against teams that were preparing for the Youth Olympics for about four years prior, while we only had one (year to prepare). And showing that we could have kept up (competitively) with the more experienced teams was unbelievable, I’m proud of us,” concluded Davidson.

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