SAINT LUCIA Boxing Association President, David Christopher, has made an urgent call for a National Sports Commission to be set up in Saint Lucia. Christopher at the time was speaking during a site visit of the SLBA-renovated gym at Vigie on Thursday morning.
He said, “I would love to see the government move away from the subvention of national associations and move into the direction of a National Sports Commission. The national commission will be similar to that of where a financial contribution will be put into a fund. For example, the DSH team coming here to do this massive project in the south of the island can make a contribution towards sports development.”
Christopher said other businesses coming here to set up shop should also make a contribution. If that were the case, he said, when the District Youth and Sports Councils and athletes want to compete overseas and the national sports federations want to organize sporting events, they too can get proper assistance.
“The current renovation work you see going on right now at the Boxing Gym, I have had to literally beg all over the place for assistance, just to get a permanent home for our boxers. If we had an NSC, they would have been the one to take care of that expense,” he said.
Christopher said he has already spoken to most of the presidents of the 20 national sports federation under the SLOC banner, all of whom have agreed to such an entity. He said it was time to move away from the $5000 subvention here and there if sports were to truly develop.
“For example, any active sports federation will have at least five events in one year. The SLBA will be hosting two more regional events. We just won the OECS championship in April. In early July, we will be hosting the Creole Boxing Championship and in December we have 25 countries and over 300 boxers coming here for the Caribbean Boxing Championships. Think about it: these are major events and $5000 cannot do anything for you. You’re simply spinning top in mud,” Christopher explained.
Another necessity which he believes need to come on stream is a Sports Desk. He said he has since had discussions with Minister of Tourism, Dominic Fedee, during which he proposed the need to revitalise the sports tourism sector in Saint Lucia.