Barbados’ national sporting federations have the ear of the President of the Barbados Olympic Association Inc and other top BOA officials again this year. Following the launch of a series of lunchtime meetings with Presidents and Secretaries last year, BOA’s President Steve Stoute has deemed that the meetings were so successful that he would repeat them again this year.
“Our national federations have a number of issues in common. The lunchtime meetings not only give the representatives of the federations an opportunity outside of the Annual General Meeting to meet with me and other executive members, but they also give the presidents an opportunity to network with each other and see how best they can solve problems and share resources,” Stoute said.
There were two meetings so far this year. The National Federations attending the second meeting were Chess, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Golf and Gymnastics.
President of the Barbados Football Association, Randy Harris, and the President of the Amateur Athletic Association, Catherine Jordan were on hand and they shared their stories of the issues at the National Stadium and the pending new facility at Wildey for football.
One of the major challenges that the Presidents and Secretaries raised was the long wait to gain approvals from Town and Country Planning. The Fencing and Gymnastics representatives also expressed their association’s need for a place to call home. Darius Field from Gymnastics reported on how well the local gymnasts performed even with the limited accommodation but emphasized that they could do much more with better facilities.
All of the sporting organizations will be having a number of major meets and tournaments this year. Representatives of the Barbados Cycling Union, Keith Yearwood and Charles Pile spoke about 15th Caribbean Elite Road Cycling Championships that is scheduled for October 17-18, 2015 and their desire to promote the event widely and have it broadcast on cable television.
There is a lot of work to be done, but the President assured the Federations that the BOA is on the pulse of what is happening and is working to improve the local infrastructure daily.
Manager of the Olympic Academy David Farmer announced that there are some coach specific courses coming on stream in June for which the federations should look out. The courses are not specific to any one sport but rather geared at enhancing the overall capacity of coaches.
The lunchtime meetings will continue over the next few months to ensure all the Federations receive an opportunity to raise their issues and tell of the strides that are happening in their sport.
