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DUDLEY LEONORA

MARC RAMIREZ

RENE LEVERET

JAMAL THOMAS

HELP HAITI

Contact St. Maarten Red Cross

Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten
Denied right to host Kingdom Games

The Daily Herald -- Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten have been denied the opportunity to host the 2011 Kingdom Games, because the spreading of athletes, coaches and the general public over three different territories would not influence this brotherhood aspect of the event in a positive manner, according to Netherlands Antilles Minister for social development Omayra Leeflang.

The Minister further stated the hosting of the 2011 Kingdom Games in the Windward Islands would additionally bring with it logistical and financial difficulties.

St. Maarten’s Commissioner in charge of sports affairs Frans Richardson strongly disagrees.

“Here again is another example why the entity known as the Netherlands Antilles has failed and reason for which people have opted to leave the Netherlands Antilles, to become a country with a separate status,” says the Commissioner.

He says that contrary to the arguments brought forward for not hosting the games in the Windward Islands, organizing the Kingdom Games on St. Maarten, with a few activities held on Saba and St. Eustatius, would have been exactly the kind of gesture benefiting brotherhood, unity and understanding for participants from the various parts of the kingdom.

“One should consider that the islands of Saba and St. Eustatius, for instance, would have never been granted the opportunity to host Kingdom Games on their own; this was our way of displaying our solidarity with our sister islands and inviting visitors to be part of this unique experience”, says the Commissioner.

Richardson believes that other reasons than those communicated to St. Maarten have played a role in the decision. This negatively impacts sports cooperation between the various islands of the Netherlands Antilles, he says.

“It cannot be so that while we make public statements regarding our working together through sports entities, St. Maarten and the Windward Islands are usually and systematically ignored or not given their rightful place’, says Richardson.

According to him, St. Maarten has for too long been the victim of prejudice in many instances where sports decisions regarding the island are taken at Central Government level or by Netherlands Antilles sports organizations.

He says that the decision will, however, not discourage him from continuing to champion St. Maarten as a most suitable venue for Kingdom Games and similar events.
Saba, Statia, St. Maurten denied right to host Kingdom Games.

Hit the Ground Running?

The Commissioner of Sports publicly stated that “he will hit the ground running” in regards to sports.

Since taking office the public was present with plans such as building a cricket field, sports tourism and basketball courts etc. Ambitious plans that are costly to hit the ground running.

September 8, 2009 will be three months since the Commissioner of Sports had the opprtunity to make his mark on taking sports to another level.

The following points were sent to the Commissioner with the hope that sport in general could have benefited positively. Regretfully, none were considered and which would have had no major budgetary effect.

The order in which  the bellow mentioned points are listed  may not  necessarily be the first that could have been tackled by the Commissioner of Sports.

The organizations that are presently occupied with sports should be commended for their effort and time  However, this does signify that sport are organized and   are performing optimally.

A structure could have been put in place whereby each major sport will have a season.  For example, if we’re organizing volleyball we should not have other major sports competing for players and fans.  When volleyball season is over then we can continue with another major sport. This provides our  athletes the opportunity to participate and excel  in at least two major sports during the year.



It was imperative that a team was put in place that could have survey the various districts and determine the viability of forming teams comprising of youths/adults from the districts.  This could have foster healthy competition and improve sports on St. Maarten.

A secretariat of sports could have been established that will coordinate sporting matters such as documentation of all sporting organizations and compiling and safekeeping of statistics, etc.

Funding for sports could have been achieved by the return of a 1 or 2 cent extra on gasoline.

Support for a viable program that will bring professional trainers to work along with those we have presently and to recruit potential athletes who can continue after the pros leave.

For any sports organization to be funded they should prove that efforts were undertaken to obtain funds through fund-raising..

All sports organizations should have been invited to a general meeting wherein they could have contributed and share in the Commissioner of Sports vision and direction for sports on St. Maarten.

One incentive among others could have been an annual recognition of outstanding sports men and women including the district that has promoted .and developed its athletes.

The Commissioner of Sports had ample time to choose some of the above points and put into action. In particular districts sports which is lacking. Many of the issues plaguing our youth results from lack of action by the leadership. Should one take a drive in some areas, what will be witnessed are youths hanging on walls. Were these youths occupied in sports, the communities could be much richer in youth development.

Rene Leveret

Start Over

BASEBALL STEERING COMMITTEE FORMED

Cul de Sac –A “Steering Committee” was formed on August 21st, 2009, with the approval by the majority of the team representatives. In an effort to have baseball started the Steering Committee came together and began the preparation for season 2009.

The “Steering Committee” consists of representatives from member organizations, and that the chair person is an independent person with no direct link to any team. 

Their responsibilities are solely to work in the best interest of baseball in general, with the goal to enhance the game, to close the gap between the youth divisions and AA baseball.

The “Steering Committee” members are:
Mr. Marcus Levestone – Chairman
Ms. Julia Ambrosina of Stars Baseball
Mr. Lloyd Euson of Diamondback Baseball team
Mr. Ricardo Patrick of Blue Jays
Tigers, Mets and Vi-Kings will be submitting their representative to the Steering Committee. 

The “Teams Representatives”, are to work to improve the level of play, while organizing and restructuring their team to be able to have the athletes playing the game in a self-confident and fundamental sound manner.

The Steering Committee is planning to turn a new page and counting on the support of all stakeholders on the Island of St. Maarten who are officials, fans, business community, the media houses, and the athletes.