Olympic spirit among young scouts

At the 21st World Scout Jamboree recently held in Chelmsford, Essex, England, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) conducted its new Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP). Some 28,000 young people between the ages 14 and 17 and 12,000 adults were present at the event – a great opportunity for the IOC to reach out to youth and youth leadership with Olympic values.




Education through sport
Interactivity was the name of the game. Peace, environment and health, themes close to heart of the Olympic Movement, were brought to life during workshops led by several organisations on the spot.
The OVEP workshops were implemented by renowned Olympic educationalist Dr Dianne Binder from Canada, coincidentally a girl guide in her youth. The young people learnt and discussed about the Olympic Games, their ancient and modern history and the educational values of Olympism that have a ring of similarity with the values of the scout movement. They also participated enthusiastically in recreating the Olympic rituals, symbols and ceremonies. Another sport-related session, led by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), informed the youngsters about doping.




Active participation in the focus
The organisational culture of the jamboree resonates with the IOC President’s vision for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), which will be held for the first time in 2010. The “free-style” interaction and informality of the camp and, in particular, the empowerment of the young people to organise activities in and around the camp, are similar to the YOG concept.





London 2012 for young scouts
Such was the enthusiasm that the organisers have decided they will consider an expanded and extended involvement with sport. London 2012 has opened discussions with the scout movement with a view to creating a pool of young volunteers, not just from the United Kingdom, but also from developing countries.