Ruben Completes World Para Athletics National Technical Official's Course

UTT's Micky Ruben was selected as Trinidad and Tobago's representative to participate in a regional sports training initiative for boccia, and track and field, which the Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) hosted from March 13-15, 2024 in Kingston, Jamaica.

The training programme aimed to provide technical and skills-training support to elite-level para-athletes, coaches, technical staff, and referees. It was designed to enhance the participants' proficiency and expertise in their respective fields and equip them with the necessary tools to excel while representing their countries, in the future.

The successful completion of the course will make Ruben the only World Para Athletics (WPA) National Technical Official for track and field in Trinidad and Tobago.

The initiative was supervised and guided by the International Paralympic Committee, ensuring the highest standards of quality and professionalism.

According to JPA's President, Christopher Samuda, the programme was the first of its kind in the Caribbean for regional stakeholders. It brought together participants from Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands.

Samuda also aims to establish Jamaica as a hub for future regional and international technical training and capacity-building exercises.

Ruben, who is a World Athletics Level 5 Coach, is the only WPA International Intellectual Impairment Classifier in the Caribbean, and the only WPA National Physical Impairment Classifier in Trinidad and Tobago. He works as a massage therapist in the University's Academy of Sport and Recreation's High-Performance Unit and Rehabilitation Unit.

Micky is also currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Kinesiology at UTT.