By Morissa Lindsay
The National Sports Council (NSC) is looking to get back in bed with corporate Barbados to make its annual vacation summer camp more attractive for its young participants, says senior coach Wayne Robinson.
After a two-year hiatus because of the Coronavirus pandemic, Robinson said they have had a total of over 1300 campers this year which is a significant improvement from a total of 1000 pre-COVID. Robinson shared that come next year the NSC wants to join forces with corporate Barbados to alleviate some of their expenses for the annual summer camp which costs BDS$120 per participant ranging from ages six to 16.
“That is a process we have to restart because if you had seen our summer camp shirts before we had various sponsors and now we only have one which came at the last minute this year. We were looking to go on this venture on our own this year but we are hoping to get back in bed with corporate Barbados to ensure we can forego some of these expenses,” Robinson explained.
While the NSC camp now in its 35th year has seen an increase, they have also seen a falloff in disciplines such as archery, taekwondo and rugby which were all previously part of the roster. All was not lost, however, as the NSC included skateboarding in its newly implemented list of initiatives which Robinson described as being a popular sport among the children.
“The camp has been hectic. I think that because we were out of commission for a little bit because of COVID and people wanting their kids to do something, we have had a bigger number of campers than we have had for the last five camps in the past. “The last camp we had which was just before COVID had just over 1000 people and we have had registrations as recent as yesterday in week five,” Robinson expressed.
Among the other list of positives for this year’s camp, Robinson also revealed that for the first time in years they have had to put a cap on male basketball. As the person tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the camp goes well, Robinson said: “I don’t think we have ever had to cap male basketball and that was the first sport that was sold out.
Not to mention the camp has been well attended with 1300 plus personalities. In terms of inclusion, we have opened our doors to special needs and they require more individual attention than other people but we are happy to have them with us.
“For swimming, we were unable to use the Aquatic Centre because of CCCAN (Central American and Caribbean Swimming Federation), so we have taken our summer camp to the beach.
“This is the first time we have done that såo we are at Miami, Brandon’s and Browne’s beach as well as a pool called Seaside Aquatics. Swimming is the sport that people wanted most and it did not disappoint because we still have a lot of people.”
While the six-week camp has gone well with a week to go, Robinson, a 19-year veteran of the NSC, did indicate that all was not perfect and they have had some challenges but so far been able to work through them. This is as it relates to campers obeying the rules among other areas.
The various disciplines for camp this year are track and field, table tennis, swimming, badminton, fitness, skateboarding, football, netball, boxing, volleyball, road tennis, hockey, chess, cycling, cricket and basketball. For specialized areas such as skateboarding, Robinson highlighted that they have had to bring in people to coach that area especially now that it is an Olympic sport.
In addition, Robinson pointed out that the NSC has not had a shortage in camp assistance and revealed they have had more than the required number of persons signing up to supervise. Acting Director of Sport Adrian Donovan also praised the NSC camp, particularly the coaches and staff who he stated have done extremely well under challenging times as it relates
to the Coronavirus pandemic and the shifting of venues.
“I must say that the coaches and staff did a good job under challenging circumstances and worked to ensure the young campers felt safe and they must be commended for the work they have done and continue to do,” Donovan said.
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
