Despite a successful sporting year in 2024, Saint Lucia is expected to field only a small team at the Pan Am Junior Games in Asunción, Paraguay, later this year.
Saint Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) president Alfred Emmanuel has revealed to St. Lucia Times that only three or four federations are currently able to qualify athletes for the August 9-23 multi-sport event, as several affiliates and administrators appeared to have been unaware of the qualifying mechanisms.
“From what we’ve seen, we don’t think that a number of associations paid close attention. And, as such, there just might be three or four associations that are in a position to qualify athletes for the event,” Emmanuel said.
He further disclosed: “We had a meeting with all national federations closer to the end of 2024, and what some persons did realise is that some of the qualifiers had gone already. So once your qualifier is gone, then you are basically out of contention. There are some associations who really didn’t have athletes in a position to meet any qualifying standards, so those didn’t attend the meeting. So we are now looking at a possibility of maybe three or four associations as I speak.”
The Athletics Association, Aquatics Federation, and Table Tennis Association are among the federations likely to qualify athletes for the games. Sailing may also have representation, Emmanuel revealed.
He absolved the SLOC of any responsibility for ensuring broader participation, stressing that it is the duty of national federations to stay informed about regional governing body activities.
The administrator told St. Lucia Times this would be the only way to ensure entry to international games under the auspices of the SLOC.
“It simply shows you that those persons are not paying much attention to the continental activities,” he said. “Because when it comes to those things, no Olympic Committee is really involved. It is basically between the continental associations and the national federations. The Olympic Committee is out of that. So as we normally tell members, the national federations are better placed than the Olympic Committee to know of qualifiers and other events that the continental body is organising.
“So our thing is to assist members to get qualifiers, that is the first step. Get qualifiers, when you qualify, then we work on getting adequate representation to mount the podium. We have a very small wish list.”
Among the sports that held continental qualifying events in late 2024 were rugby, squash, and cycling. Emmanuel noted that while there will only be one meet under his organisation’s direction in 2025, the year 2026 will be a busy one, with preparations for the Youth Olympic Games, Centro Caribe Games, and Commonwealth Games.
Photo Caption:
SLOC president Alfred Emmanuel (right) at a Pan Am Sports recognition ceremony. (Photo Credit: PASO)
