National swimmer Cheyenne Victoria Rosimere Rova and Project Director and Founder of the Plants to Plates – Fiji project Karan Swadeep Narayan will be representing Fiji Young Pacific Leaders Workshop during the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture underway in Hawaii.
Rova competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics while teaching physical and health part-time.
She also won silver during the 2011 Pacific Games and competed in three events at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Rova says she applied for the YPL Workshop on Sports Leadership because she is deeply passionate about the transformative power of sports in communities.
She says throughout her life, she has witnessed firsthand how sports can instil valuable life skills such as teamwork, discipline, and resilience; however, she believes there is always room for growth and improvement in leadership within the realm of sports.
The swimmer says she hopes to gain a deeper understanding of effective leadership strategies tailored to the sports environment and learn how to inspire and motivate athletes to reach their full potential, not just on the field of play, but also in their personal lives.
Rova says by implementing the leadership principles and strategies she learns, she hopes to create a more inclusive and empowering sports environment where every individual, regardless of background or ability, has the opportunity to thrive.
She says she believes that by nurturing strong leaders within sports, they foster positive change that extends far beyond the playing field.
The US Embassy says Narayan has successfully implemented the project through a follow-on grant from his participation at the 2022 YPL Climate Action TechCamp, Auckland.
They say he later went on to become the champion of the inaugural YPL Alumni Voyages Amazing Race with his team Muamua Log.
Karan had previously served as an officer with a UN agency for a climate adaptation and disaster risk financing programme.
