NASSAU, Bahamas -- Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture the Hon Charles Maynard announced that the Sports Department will host a Sports Leaders Summit Meeting at Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino, Saturday, May 15.
During a press conference at his office, Wednesday, May 13, Mr Maynard said, “The main purpose of this one-day conference is for the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture to formally acquaint Federations, Associations and other stake holders with the Amendments to the National Sports Policy as approved and mandated by the Government of The Bahamas.”
“In this regard, each Sporting Federation and Association has been invited to provide a minimum of three delegates to the Summit.”
The finalization of the Policy, he said, is a product of a three-year collaborative process commencing in 2007 following many years of consultation coming out of deliberations at the National Sports Leaders Conclave held September 30 to October 2, 1996, he explained.
Mr Maynard also noted that during the deliberations, Prime Minister the Rt Hon Hubert A Ingraham announced the Government’s recognition of sports and its potential to harness the energies and mould character of Bahamian youth.
The Prime Minister requested specific recommendations for enhancing National Sports Development.
Copies of the Draft Policy were circulated to all delegates attending the Conclave where it unanimously agreed that The Bahamas should possess a clear and defined, written National Sports Policy, Mr Maynard said.
“We are proud to announce that Cabinet has considered and approved the Sixth Draft of the Revised National Sports Policy. At the upcoming Summit the final version of the revised Sports Policy is expected to be ratified.”
He said some of the matters included in the Policy relate to how grants are provided and under what circumstances athletes Federations could receive grants.
The Policy also outlines how the Government relates to sporting authorities, what Federations should be recognized and under what criteria and how the protocol should work in terms of Associations working through their Federations when addressing matters to Government, Mr Maynard added.
Assistant Director of Sports, Kevin Colebrooke said the revised articles in the Policy were done with the recommendations of sporting heads at a prior conclave. “They all contributed to what they wanted changed and how they would like for this Policy to be formulated.”
Permanent Secretary, Archie Nairn added that it is important to recognize that as the sporting environment changes, the Policy Document will need tweaking to coincide with what is happening in the sporting environment.
q“So even though this (the Sports Policy) maybe cast in stone today, in another year or two, we may need to revisit again.”
Mr Maynard said during the Summit, opportunity will be taken by Nick Dean of the IBS Group, the entity contracted to design the Sports Centre, to update delegates on the completed Master Plan for the re-development of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.
