Island adventure teaches young Olympians value of communication, teamwork

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) athletes were met with challenges in their island adventure and found teamwork and communication the solution to beat them.

The full-day adventure at Pulau Ubin is part of the 50-event Culture and Education Program that has been running parallel with the sporting events in the inaugural YOG here and athletes would be faced with several challenges, including a high-rope obstacle course and building a seaworthy raft.

Activities deputy director Siva Machap from Singapore said on Tuesday that the popularity of the Outward Bound program stems from its combination of fun activities and meaningful messages.

"This is meant to prepare them for life outside the competitive arena and to experience the Olympic values in action," he said. "They like working with people across national boundaries instead of competing against them."

The activity is so heavily over-subscribed that initial plans to limit the island journey to 144 athletes each day have been scrapped and now 200 are jumping on the ferries to participate.

The British athletic team made this trip right after their competition.

"We booked it straight away because we were really looking forward to it," said Jo Jennings. "Our athletes didn't finish until Monday so Pulau Ubin is our first culture and education activity."

Lebanese swimmer Abbas Raad said the activity day was just one more way for the Games to connect him to people around the world.

"Today is pretty cool," he said. "It opens your mind to the world and connects you to other people. We're all mixed and now we are all on the same team. We are all one, working together. You need others who are not from your country."

Source: Xinhua