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Emphasising the importance
of Parish Sports Councils
ST
GEORGE’S, Grenada, January 9, 2011 –
Sports Minister Patrick Simmons has underscored the importance of the
proposed Parish Sports Councils, noting the critical role they will play in
the development of sports in Grenada.
A draft National Sports Policy, which is expected
to be enacted into law sometime this year, calls for the establishment of a
National Sports Council (NSC), as well as a Parish Sports Council (PSC) in
each of the nation’s parishes, including Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
One of the plans outlined in the Sports Policy is
for the NSC to produce an annual sporting calendar. In order to achieve this
goal, there will be collaboration between the NSC and PSC, Minister Simmons
said.
“The PSC would have to go down on the ground and
do the work; get information from all the leagues within the various
parishes and formulate the calendar on a parish basis,’’ he said. “The
parish calendar will then be forwarded to the National Sports Council which
will come up with the holistic calendar of events for that year.”
Another of the mandates of the PSC will be to
organise parish football, cricket and netball tournaments.
Members will also be expected to assist the
Ministry of Sports in its Holiday Recreational programmes, and to set up
sports council offices in each parish.
Discussions on the effective implementation of
the policy have begun, with the first meeting of 2011 taking place recently
between officials of the Ministry of Sports and representatives of the PSC.
Among those attending were Minister Simmons;
Permanent Secretary Veda Bruno-Victor; Policy Advisor Kenrick Fullerton and
Coordinator of Sports, Conrad Francis.
Photos and Story submitted by Jaime Campbell of Ministry
of Youth Empowerment & Sports
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