GSD's work with international sports organizations helps young athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds and third world countries train and prepare for international competition that would otherwise be out of reach. Participating youth not only advance their athletic abilities, they cultivate their characters, often serving as role models for clean sport upon their returns home.
Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI)
GSD funding allows impoverished amateur athletes to compete at an international level, assisting athletes from South Africa and central Africa and promoting the development of equestrian sport in third world countries. Participants learn personal and social responsibility in the pursuit of physical activity and good health.
Federation Internationale D'Escrime (FIE)
GSD funding helped facilitate FIE's training camp for young athletes in Taebaek City, Korea. The camp was attended by 30 fencers ages 13-20, each representing one of 30 developing countries. In supporting the camp, GSD enabled youth not only to participate in elite level training, improving their individual abilities, but also to promote the ideals of sportsmanship, ethics and fair play as role models upon return to their home countries.
International Archery Federation (FITA)
GSD sponsored a grant for FITA's 2006 World Junior Championships Scholarship Program-Viva America in Mexico. As a result of the funding, every North or South American country that, due to financial constraints, could not participate in either of the last two Junior World Championships was eligible to send participants. FITA chose 22 participants from among these eligible countries: Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. Only member associations with a clean record of doping violations in the last two years were considered.
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
Disrupted by ethnic violence, a tsunami and a massive earthquake, life in the Solomon Islands is difficult. Consequently, sports participation by youth has declined dramatically. Working closely with the ITTF, GSD supported the construction of weatherproof ping pong tables for use in the Solomon Islands. GSD funding will dramatically increase the number of disadvantaged youth able to participate in table tennis.
Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) Anti Doping Group
GSD supports VANOC's worldwide efforts to educate athletes on the dangers of performance enhancing drugs. GSD funding will help VANOC implement an innovative educational program warning athletes about the risks and consequences of "doping". The program will also highlight GSD's Culture, Education, Sport and Ethics Program (CESEP) during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.