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October 2014 |
“I was on the Physical Training Instructors’ (PTI) course that the military runs every year,” he says. “We volunteered to run to raise awareness for Special Olympics. There’s a torch they carry with the “Flame of Hope” through the country. We ran that torch from Arima to Port of Spain. Along the route the Special Olympic athletes would come and cheer us on – people with Down’s syndrome, people with cerebral palsy. I was stunned. “When we finished at the National Stadium I saw over 1000 young people gathered from all these institutions such as the Lady Hochoy Home and the Princess Elizabeth Home and School. I was totally blown away. My whole concept of sports totally shifted. I was no longer interested in sport for elitism – who could run the fastest or jump the furthest. I became interested in sport for development.” That interest has helped shape Major Benjamin’s 20-plus years as a military man, his career as a coach of coaches for national and regional Olympic-level sports, his role as director for programmes targeting at-risk youth, and his dedication to working with disabled athletes through avenues like the Special Olympics. The notion of sport for development is also a large part of Major Benjamin’s vision for UWI St Augustine as Director of SPEC, the position he assumed in December 2013. On October 26, SPEC will enhance one of the university’s stand-out activities with one of Major Benjamin’s passions. The 2014 UWI SPEC International Half-Marathon will include a relay race for Special Olympics athletes. “We decided this year to bring Special Olympics athletes into the marathon loop as runners,” he explains. “They will be persons with intellectual disabilities who can run distance.” SPEC has asked Special Olympics teams to provide 13-person squads. Each squad will have a runner complete one mile before passing the baton onto another, that way ensuring a large participation from athletes with disabilities who would otherwise have great difficulty completing the course. Major Benjamin is a regional expert in working with people with disabilities in sports. For 15 years he has traveled throughout the Caribbean on behalf of regional and international agencies as a Special Olympics trainer. “I go all over the world training and qualifying people as coaches for nine different disciplines in Special Olympics,” he says. Apart from this, SPEC is endeavouring to make the 2014 International Half Marathon (its 11th run) the most competitive ever. The race will include a host of international runners, including world class runners from Kenya and Brazil who are seeking to beat the course record. In addition, the race time will be 15 minutes earlier this year (the start time is 5.30 am) so that competitors will not have to start with the dawn light in their eyes. “The earlier start will help us get a faster race. We think that given the pedigree of runners that we have this year we are going to have a record-breaking run,” says Major Benjamin. “What we are doing here is providing a platform for sporting excellence and for people to have that balance between academics and sports,” he says. “A student who is well-balanced in the two is the best kind of student. If people are successful in sports, the lessons are easily transferrable to overcoming life challenges.” From his appearance it is obvious that Major Benjamin is as much practitioner as he is evangelist. “Sharp” is the word that best describes him. Sharp cheekbones, neatly pressed shirt draped over shoulders as straight as if they were drawn by T-square, he is clearly someone who has dedicated a considerable portion of his 45 years to physical activity. “I still train quite avidly,” he remarks. “I’ve always had a passion for sports.” From his youth in Tobago where he trained furiously to make it to the NBA (a dream that did not work out) he moved onto the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. And even though he faced several challenges to make it to the rank of officer, he continually strived; along the way, fashioning a place for himself as a master of physical fitness. For five years Major Benjamin held the position of Physical Training Officer (PTO) of the T&T Defence Force. The PTO is the officer responsible for the overall training and assessment of every soldier in the T&T military, including the Regiment, Coast Guard and Air Guard. As SPEC Director, he is using these skills to try to increase the participation of students and faculty in sports and fitness activities. “I see coming to the university as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to continue a legacy started by Dr Iva Gloudon and the other directors who held this position before me. I see it as passing the baton to someone with some ideas,” he smiles. “I may not have all the ideas and I certainly don’t have all the solutions. But I have ideas.” Among his ideas is the introduction of new sports and fitness activities. For the 2014 Carnival season SPEC held their first “boot camp” style fitness workout for faculty and students. Expecting a class size of about 30, the UWI boot camp classes regularly had between 120-130 participants. In addition, SPEC offers introductory programmes in areas like aerobics, swimming and tennis. “What I’ve been trying to do is see what we have offered in the past and get a sense from people of what they want now,” he explains. At present, only about 1500 of UWI St Augustine’s student population of nearly 19,000 regularly access the services provided by SPEC. Major Benjamin and his team mean to change that. “Failure is not an option where I come from,” he says. “I guess that’s just my outlook on life. I always see things as being possible. I believe in finding a way to achieve the mission, as they say in the military.” |
It’s late afternoon and Major David Benjamin, the new Director of the Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC) at The UWI St Augustine, tells me about his first encounter with Special Olympians.