New Minister ready to do something?
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_sports?id=161239459Time for resultsNew minister talks tough to sporting bodies
Kern De Freitas
Thursday, November 22nd 2007
Serious talk: New Minister of Sport, Gary Hunt, left, talks business with chairman of the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT), Gerard Ferreira at the SPORTT Christmas luncheon at the Hilton Trinidad yesterday. -Photo: Curtis Chase
IT'S time to turn money into results.
This was the message from new Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Gary Hunt, as he addressed members of the national sporting fraternity during a Christmas Luncheon hosted by the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, St Ann's yesterday.
"...Given the amount of money now being pumped into various disciplines, we must begin to see more tangible results," the minister stressed as he outlined the major areas of development on which he is hoping for SPORTT to "continue to focus".
These areas include development of personnel such as athletes, coaches and administrators, the construction and upgrading of facilities, and identifying a path for developing athletes from the primary schools to the elite level.
Other areas Hunt earmarked for serious attention are succession planning, building on the performances by great athletes such as Hasely Crawford and Brian Lara, and also using sport technology and exploring sport science and the benefits of adopting such an approach.
In relaying his excitement and commitment to his new portfolio, Hunt advised SPORTT on the importance of efficiency and achieving set goals. "To whom much is given, much is expected," he added.
Chairman Gerard Ferreira, uttered similar sentiments, telling the different sporting bodies that SPORTT are now looking for return on their investment.
"We are now going to ask for delivery. We are not going to ask for the bang for our buck. We want to deliver the institution that we know sport is," Ferreira stressed.
The former Arima Race Club president revealed that his term as SPORTT chairman is coming to an end, saying that results should now be forthcoming after the unprecedented sums given to sports in T&T.
"It doesn't have to be more gold medals. I want to see more people qualifying for the Olympics," Ferreira said, adding that, "we have to start thinking of sport as an industry".
SPORTT CEO Carol Charles-Austin indicated she was encouraged by some of the achievements T&T have had over the last year, singling out cyclist Emile Abraham, who achieved Pan American Games silver for T&T.
Yesterday, SPORTT also used the occasion to launch their new website,
www.sportt-tt.com. In addition to a local news section and a downloadable version of the sport policy and information on sport development, the website also includes sports doping information, including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, as well as information about sport-related jobs, as well a job centre.