Assistant Secretary-Treasurer of the Barbados Volleyball Association (BVA), Julia Broome welcomed the opportunity to participate in the Executive Masters in Sport Organisations Management (MEMOS) XXV Programme, which runs from August 2022 to September 2023.
MEMOS is offered by a network of universities around the world and seeks to develop the knowledge of professionals working in national or international sports bodies to enhance the management of their organisations.
Broome said she was ecstatic about the opportunity and set her sights on being the top student in this cohort.
“I have a love for young people,” she said. “I have a love for sports. I see that sports can open many doors and present many opportunities for young people who wouldn’t otherwise have these opportunities. I want to see young people achieve.
“I want to see sports in Barbados move to the next level. I know we do very, very well across the board in almost all sporting disciplines at the youth and junior level, but for some reason, we haven’t been able to break that barrier when it comes to seniors and adults on the international stage.”
As Chairman of the Youth & Junior Commission, she was responsible for the development of volleyball for young children.
She was also the Barbados female youth volleyball team manager and has been an executive member of the BVA for the past three years.
She was first introduced to the BVA by playing on the Barbados female junior volleyball team from 1997 to 1999.
Broome is also a founding member of Warrens Sports Club, which was integral in organising and hosting the inaugural Warrens Beach Classic and National Primary Schools’ Invitational Volleyball Championships.
Reflecting on her MEMOS Project, she said her goal is to explore the use of technology to enhance the management of sports and national teams in Barbados.
“We are in the final stages of producing a youth and junior policy on volleyball for the island, and in this, we saw that there is a void in the use of technology, in the preparation of teams and even in the teaching of the sport of volleyball,” she said.
“So that’s what my project is going to be. I’m going to use it in the preparation of the youth and junior teams; however, I want it to transcend into the preparation of any person learning to play volleyball, whether you are eight years old or 30 years old.
“I want to see how technology, including things like ball machines and blocking machines, which make a coach’s job much easier, can enhance our level of play and what we ultimately produce when we go to championships to represent the island. I am hoping that this allows me to help all federations in Barbados to take sports to the next level.”
Broome said she was honoured to have been recommended by the Barbados Olympic Association for the MEMOS Programme and the accompanying Olympic Solidarity Scholarship.
She looks forward to going to Switzerland this September for her first in-person session.
(PR/AR)