Great Bay:--- Within short, the final draft of the Sports Policy which has been the subject of discussions in two Sports Conferences held this month, will be forwarded to all the stakeholders for their consideration before it is adopted. Part 2 of the Sports Conference was held Saturday, September 17, 2011 at the University of St. Martin with some 45 participants engaged in what has been described as "very positive and productive" break away group discussions of each policy area presented in the draft. Each of the five groups had a facilitator and a reporter who gave an account of the deliberations in their groups at the general session."We will integrate the relevant proposals coming out of the discussions into the present policy document and also update the statistical data," Head of the Department of Youth and Sports, Mrs. Shermina Powell-Richardson said. This updated version of the document will be sent to the stakeholders for their final approval, she added.
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, Dr. Rhoda Arrindell, said she was impressed with the attendance and the level of discussions.
"For so many people to show up for this second part of the Conference on a Saturday morning shows that they are indeed very interested in the future of sports on the island. I applaud that and judging from the content of the discussions, I feel confident that we're on the right track," Minister Arrindell said.
The soon-to-be managing director of Sedreko, the Curacao umbrella sporting body, Mr. Cintje, was a special guest of honor at the Conference. He had delayed his return to Curacao specifically to be able to attend the Conference Saturday, having been here during the week with the Kingdom Games Steering Committee.
In an impromptu address to the participants, Mr. Cintje said Curacao itself does not yet have a Sports policy. This, he said, will be one of his main priorities when he assumes office shortly.
He also disclosed that Curacao and St. Martin need to collaborate more and work together in the area of sports, especially seeing that Aruba and The Netherlands cannot be counted on for support. Mr. Cintje said Curacao had received an unequivocal "No" to its bid to become a member of the International Olympic Committee, and indicated that he was pretty certain St. Martin would receive the same answer. "We are in the same boat," he said.
Mr. Cintje was very pleased to have attended the Conference and added that he would like an official invitation to the follow up so that he could bring his board also.
The feedback from all the other participants in the half-day Conference was very positive. "It was really well-received," said Mrs. Powell-Richardson.