We’ve grown rapidly over the last couple of years – from zero to 115 members in more than 100 countries – and my objective now is to bring the organization to the next level. This does not, however, mean simply increasing our membership. Over the next couple of years, I would like us to focus on quality and in particular to have more high-quality members rather than simply chasing numbers.
I first want to recognize the contribution of our current members, and also to recognize that each one is at a different stage of development. However, improving our governance, transparency and global credibility will become essential as we move forward and that will involve all our current members building their capacity.
We run a lot of workshops throughout the year and going forward I want everything we do to be much more effective. Attending a workshop shouldn’t just be about being present – the output matters more than the presence. So, we’ll measure outcomes much more closely, testing whether members are actually capable of applying what they’ve learned.
Quality also relates to members’ wider plans – grassroots development, school engagement and so on. I want to make sure everything they do feeds into our future global initiatives and connects with us as a global movement. Activities should have local coverage but be connected to the global movement, and whatever’s done locally should feed back value to the global level. We’ll support and guide those initiatives and commit whatever internal and external resources we can to make that happen.
On schools specifically, I want to be clear about where we stand. The Phygital School Games initiative in Guatemala, Brazil and Colombia has been very successful and we should all applaud their efforts to engage with schools and educational institutions. Schools will be very much part of our future development – but it won’t necessarily take the format that was originally proposed internally.
While such an initiative has worked well locally, it’s unlikely that it can be expanded into a global WPC schools program. That’s because there are issues around branding, compliance and finance – not to mention responsibility, since it involves children traveling. So, when we say we’re not pursuing the format, it means we’re not pursuing the specific model that was proposed internally – but we’re definitely still promoting engagement in educational activities, whether at school or university level. There will still be competition, but it won’t be a turnkey solution like the ranking events we organize now. It will be down to members’ own initiatives, which we’re encouraging at this stage, before we think about how to manage this kind of project properly in the future. There needs to be a full strategic review.
Continuity matters to me too. Our current membership needs to feel there aren’t drastic changes in policy, procedure or future development. I want to assure members that whatever they’ve contributed and achieved in the past is recognized and valid. But continuity doesn’t mean we’ll keep developing in exactly the same way. To reach the next level, we need to expand our ecosystem well beyond membership alone – to include sport, government, investors, athletes and technology companies. I want us to create the right environment for these stakeholders to engage, so they find value and become part of this evolution.
Based on that, I want to improve the quality of our membership services – competition format, registration process, onboarding, selection of new members, evaluation of each member’s performance and contribution. Our global partnerships with publishers, commercial partners and social media partners also need to be much more active than they have been.
I also want us to engage with global organizations such as the United Nations – we’re already part of its sustainable development initiative. I believe we should be part of global youth engagement too, whether with the World Health Organization or the International Telecommunication Union, which is looking at how AI can serve as a tool to improve lives. We have a huge contribution to make there, given our format, our global coverage, and the scale of events and audiences we engage. I see real value in having our voice heard and recognized there, which in turn will enhance our organization’s standing globally.
This is also a good time to set out clearly how I see the WPC’s relationship with Phygital International developing. I can see the value in both existing as they are. Our athletes qualify through our two-tier tournament system that leads into the Games of the Future (GOTF) and every year we take the momentum from the games and activate it throughout the year – through our own activities, qualification tournaments and other initiatives. There is a mutual benefit.
That said, I think there should be a clear separation between the two organizations. Community building for membership needs its own independence – I want to grow that independently, with its own transparency and governance, as we build more international partnerships and establish the WPC as a global organization in its own right. I believe the partnership itself will stay very positive, however, because the collaboration on sports development – and the expertise and platforms developed through the games – benefits our members a lot.
Looking ahead five years, I think we’ll be talking less about the number of members or countries and more about impact. There are 206 National Olympic Committees globally, so our current membership of 115 has real room to grow toward that scale, but there also needs to be a real improvement in quality – our top members will get stronger, others will catch up, and we’ll keep adding new members.
This is my vision for the WPC. An organization built on governance, quality and impact, with a global ecosystem behind it – and a community that everyone who contributes can be proud of.
