PanAmSports Begins NOC Outreach

(ATR) The new leadership of the Pan American Sports Organization, now commercially known as PanAmSports, is debuting its new hands-on governance approach over the next two weeks in Miami, Florida.

PanAmSports president Neven Ilic and secretary general Ivar Sisniega are meeting on an individual basis with 29 of the 41 NOCs governed by PanAmSports. The meetings that began on June 27 typically last about three hours and are the first steps by Ilic and Sisniega to learn the needs of their constituents.

"We have two weeks of hard work ahead of us," Sisniega said in a statement. "We have invited the Presidents and Secretary Generals of the members, and we want to listen to each of them.

"We are aware that every country has different needs and that the only way to really understand them is to interact one on one with each of the NOCs."

The meetings are also a step towards establishing Miami as the "nerve center of PanAmSports" where new offices are set to open in July. The NOC meetings are being held in the same building where the future offices will be housed.

Along with the new offices comes a new focus on marketing the properties of PanAmSports such as the Pan American Games. Ilic says he has hit the ground running on these various projects since his election in April.

"We have not had any rest," Ilic said in a statement. "There is a lot of work and a lot of things to do. We have had a spectacular response from all the countries that make up this organization. There is a lot of commitment and desire to do things, and we are so happy for that."

The new leaders have already met with the NOCs of Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines during their first two days in Miami. The schedule picks up for Ilic and Sisniega through the end of this week with eight meetings in two days with the NOCs of Venezuela, Saint Lucia, Guyana, Guatemala, Panama, Netherlands Antilles, Haiti and Jamaica.

The meetings take a short hiatus on June 30 before resuming on July 4 with sessions for Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Ecuador. The remaining meetings with NOCs are scheduled as follows:

July 5 – Colombia, Aruba, St. Kitts and Nevis and El Salvador

July 6 – Grenada, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Bolivia

July 7 – Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Belize and United States Virgin Islands

July 8 – Suriname and Bermuda

PanAmSports hopes the discussions in the next two weeks can build on the lessons learned from the Americas Best Practices Symposium held in Miami at the beginning of June.

"I said it from the first minute that I assumed the Presidency, we want to continue contributing to make us a great family and for that, we need to work together very closely," Ilic said.

"That is the reason why we have organized a series of meetings with the National Olympic Committees to learn more about their management, their needs, and how we can help them to become better every day."

Written by Kevin Nutley

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