Commonwealth Sport officials tour Barbados

Members of the executive board of Commonwealth Sport were treated to a first hand view of a number of facilities and attractions around the island during a tour of Barbados on Wednesday.

The tour followed a round of formal meetings and stakeholder engagements, including discussions with government representatives.

Minister of Sport Charles Griffith (centre) shares in a light hearted moment during the tour. (Photo Credit: Kurtis Hinds/Barbados TODAY)

It culminated in a road tennis showcase at the Barbados Olympic Association’s headquarters in Wildey, where members of the executive including President of Commonwealth Sport, Dr Donald Rukare, not only viewed demonstrations of the indigenous sport, but also participated in a number of informal games against coaches and students.

Road Tennis demonstration.(Photo Credit: Kurtis Hinds/Barbados TODAY)

Barbados Olympic Association President and Commonwealth Sport vice-president, Sandra Osbourne, described the day’s events as significant.

Barbados Olympic Association President, Sandra Osbourne.(Photo Credit: Kurtis Hinds/Barbados TODAY)

“Simply because as a small Commonwealth sport association, it is difficult for us to step up to the plate when it comes to hosting events like games. I mean the Minister spoke to our ambitions down the road and I think that is somewhere we want to go, but we felt that right now if we can’t host games, this is still an opportunity for us to embrace the Commonwealth family by hosting a board meeting.

“So we have had the entire board and leadership team of about 26 people here and we are having a week that is going extremely well. We had a meeting yesterday, but today was pretty much a cultural day and we had some fun and showed them a bit of Barbados; not in the traditional way in the sense that many times when sports organisations come we concentrate on sports, but we took them to the iconic Kensington Oval and we also took them to Harrison’s Cave so they could see a bit of the environment to see what Barbados has done in terms of its own natural resources,” Osbourne said.

“Now we are here at the BOA to give them a look at road tennis. It is not one of our affiliated sports, but the fact that it is an indigenous sport and we know that Barbados is promoting it, it is really our pleasure to be able to have two courts in our car park that we can showcase the sport with some young people.”Established in 1930, the Commonwealth Sport Movement brings together 74 independent nations and territories, creating a diverse Commonwealth community of over 2.5 billion individuals, representing one-third of the world’s population.

(KH)