SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend BOA receives high praise 9/12/2013 Prime Minister Freundel Stuart yesterday paid a courtesy visit to the Olympic Centre to meet with the officials of the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA). The PM was briefed on the work done by the BOA and some of the challenges faced by the local Olympic movement, and he was also treated to a tour of the BOA museum which houses several pieces of Olympic and Commonwealth Games memorabilia and highlights the achievements of national athletes. Stating that he was pleased to have been able to visit the Olympic Centre and meet with the association’s staff, Stuart noted that the tour of the museum was an informative experience. “I have followed sport from my tender years, like most other people in Barbados, and I therefore thoroughly enjoyed being taken down memory lane by being taken on the tour and reminded of some of the battles of yesteryear – some of the battles lost and some of the battles won – and to be reminded of some of the more impressive names in Barbados’ athletic history. I think that what I have seen here suggests that some marvellous work is being done at the Barbados Olympic Association,” he said. During a short discussion with the media after his tour, the Prime Minister acknowledged that over time, the nation had not been producing many exceptional performances but stressed that more effort needed to be put into doing well at all levels of sporting activity. Continuing to shower praises on the work done by the local Olympic movement, he did say that it was a saddening fact that many of the nation’s sportspersons did not carry on for too long in their respective disciplines. “What did not give me a lot of comfort, is the fact that beyond a certain point, too large a number of our athletes stop trying. I was not heartened by the fact that we are not able to keep them interested in the sport for as long as we would wish and that is something on which we have to work. I hope that we can effect greater synergies between what happens here and the Ministry of Sport and the National Sports Council and all the other pieces of sporting architecture in Barbados, so that we do not approach sport in a stochastic or chaotic or random way, but that we approach it in a holistic and coherent way and that we get the best out of our young people.” he said. Stating that he was also bothered by what he referred to as ‘overnight heroism’, Stuart said that the only was to move the nation forward was through having a higher level of perseverance across all fields. “There is nothing called overnight heroism or overnight genius. This idea of heroism and genius calls for a certain amount of ‘stick-to-it-iveness’, a certain amount of character, a certain amount of stamina and if there is anything that has happened in this country over the last 25 years that has caused me the greatest possible concern is watching these one-off performances qualifying people for coronation. Satisfying ourselves with mediocrity is not going to get Barbados anywhere. One-off performances will not get Barbados anywhere, whether we are talking about sport or any other sphere of human endeavour. What we want is consistent pursuit of the highest possible standards in our national life and no better place to start than in the area of sport which attracts people for the cradle to the grave and gives us a chance to build a national character that teaches people not to give up to quickly.” Stuart stated. (MP)
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 09:48:07 +0000
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