Four Associations Receive Funding From SLOC Inc.

Four member associations received just over EC$40,000.00 in funding from the St. Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) Inc. on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

They are:

• Lucia Aquatics Federation — $15,000.00 — for their participation in the Carifta Games hosted in Curacao in April 2023;
• Volleyball St. Lucia — $1,636.76 from their 2023 administrative grant for payment towards a monthly stipend for an office assistant, and also to pay their annual continental dues.
• Lucia Lifesaving Association — $3,994.90 — to attend an event at Buckingham Palace; and
• Lucia Special Olympics — $20,000.00 — for their participation in the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, Germany, from June 17-25, 2023.

During the cheque handover ceremony, Alfred Emmanuel, President of the SLOC Inc., explained the rationale in providing support to St. Lucia Special Olympics.

“We are committed to assisting the physically challenged since they, too, are part and parcel of the fabric and what we believe in,” he said. “While they are not official members of the SLOC Inc., when the need arises and the call has been made, we have always been supportive of them.”

Another member association will receive funding from the SLOC Inc., namely the St. Lucia Cycling Association.

According to Emmanuel, the SLOC Inc. will be assisting that association with airfare for its president to attend a continental associations meeting overseas. That amount will be based on the cost of the airfare which will be supplied by the ticketing agency.

Paula James, Vice President, Administration, St. Lucia Aquatics Federation, who received the cheque on behalf of her federation, said: “I would like to say thank you to the St. Lucia Olympic Committee. They continue to support us and it is for a good cause because we are now beginning to see the fruits of our labour as we partner with them. I am quite sure our athletes in Curacao will perform to the best of their ability and I am hoping that we will come home with some medals.”

Receiving the cheque on behalf of St. Lucia Special Olympics was Board Secretary, Theodora George, who said: “Let me say how grateful I am for this financial contribution from St. Lucia Olympic Committee….Thank you for your repeated donations to us.”

Ezra Small, President of the St. Lucia Lifesaving Association, who received the cheque on behalf of his association, said: “I would just like to thank the St. Lucia Olympic Committee for supporting the development of the lifesaving sport in Saint Lucia. We believe that it is a sport that is played on our beaches in the open water. It will help make the young people of Saint Lucia safer and help prepare them for work in the hotel and tourism industry as lifeguards.”

Small added that activities such as the one being hosted at Buckingham Palace creates awareness for the association among international lifesaving associations.

Shayne Felicien, President of Volleyball St. Lucia, received the cheque on his association’s behalf.

Meanwhile, during the ceremony, Emmanuel had some cautionary words for members of the Olympic family as it relates to good governance.

“I have given serious thought to a number of things which pertain to the Olympic family,” he said. “In a family, there will be weak ones and there will be strong ones. There will be law-abiding ones and there will be manipulative ones. Let me send a call this morning to those who believe that they will not adhere to good governance in the family; that the time has come when they must adhere to good governance.”

He added: “Do not try and manipulate the rules of good governance, for whatever reason it is. I can recall not too long ago even people’s animals were telling their masters and mistresses that a particular president of an association, a member of the SLOC Inc., must go. They carried on with all kinds of insinuations. That was then.”

He further stated that: “What amazes me is those who were fueling the fire are today silent. Even what I consider to be even greater atrocities being committed, I do not hear them. I am calling on our members to abide by the rules which govern them and be good citizens at all times.”

Nevertheless, Emmanuel said he hoped that the disbursements would be put to good use by members to so that Saint Lucia can benefit from the investment.

“When Saint Lucia wins a medal, it is not by luck or chance; it is by sheer dedication on the part of all concerned,” Emmanuel said. “It is a process of years of hard work and not overnight success. So we’re continuing with the years of hard work with the hope that that success which each and every Saint Lucian is awaiting will soon be at our doorsteps.”

SOURCE: St. Lucia Olympic Committee Inc. Headline photo: SLOC Inc. President Alfred Emmanuel (far left), SLOC Inc. Secretary General Teddy Matthews (far right) with Ezra Small, Theodora George and Paula James at the April 5 cheque handover ceremony.