Thanks to the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) donation, Saint Lucia’s athletes can step up their resistance training.
The Taiwanese handed over approximately US $250,000 in gym equipment to the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports this week.
The equipment will be at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (DSCG) and Mindoo Phillip Park, including free weights, a power cage, treadmills, and exercise cycles.
“We know a lot of sports development is actually instituted at these two locations, especially the Mindoo Phillip Park for athletics, for cricket, for football,” said Minister for Youth Development and Sports, Kenson Casimir. “We expect the equipment to be maintained and to be used with the utmost amount of care by our athletes.“Strength training is a part of our sports development that I thought was lacking, especially when I was an athlete. And so investment in gym equipment will only augment the different facilities and the different programmes we have for further sports development in this country.”
As a teenager, Casimir was selected to represent Saint Lucia in regional competitions in cricket, football, volleyball, and athletics. He argued that earlier exposure to proper training in a structured environment can make all the difference for emerging athletes.
“National athletes especially will be given priority, as you would anticipate ahead of their representation for Saint Lucia,” he explained. “But we are also expecting clubs in a very systematic way to use the facilities with a proper timetable to allow different organisations and associations the ability to have that strength training programme as early as possible.“I think one of the problems with even my maturation in sport was that very late into my training we were able to get into Olympic lifts and all those things,” he continued. “We want our athletes at an earlier stage to get familiar with those different lifts. And so the focus on proper coaching for sure, and the strength training of the different clubs and organisations at an earlier stage would be implemented.”
His Excellency, Ambassador Peter Chen, was on hand to officially hand the equipment over to the minister, with the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, Uralise Delaire, also delivering remarks.
