The Saint Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) presented EC$10,000 grants to the Saint Lucia National Netball Association (SLNNA) and the Saint Lucia Tennis Association (SLTA).

The presentation ceremony was held last Friday (February 4) at SLOC Inc’s headquarters in La Clery, Castries.

Handing over the cheques, Secretary-General of the SLOC, Teddy Matthews, said the disbursements will assist in the two sporting associations’ participation in two upcoming regional tournaments.

The SLNNA, ranked 20th in the world and fifth in the Americas, will be fielding a squad for this year’s ECCB/OECS Netball Championships to be held from February 11-19 in Dominica.

Meanwhile, an SLTA team will compete in the regional Under-16 Billie Jean King Cup from February 25 to March 5 in Santo Domingo.

“This tournament will assist us in our ranking because we’re looking forward to going to the [Netball World Cup] Qualifiers this year in Jamaica,” Sanya Antoine, first vice-president of the SLNNA, said in her brief remarks. “So we’re very grateful to the SLOC Inc for the assistance.”

For his part, SLTA vice-president Digby Ambris was also appreciative of the presentation, noting that the association needs all the assistance it can get to develop a greater domestic interest in tennis.
“We’ve got some very good young players who are interested in the game,” Ambris said. “We can only assist them in furthering their objectives.”

SLOC Inc president, Alfred Emmanuel, said the organisation remains committed and prepared to assist its members. However, he said such assistance is contingent on the SLOC Inc receiving the required information that will allow the committee to make informed decisions.

Since January this year, Emmanuel stated, the SLOC Inc has approved over EC$155,000.00 for four member sports associations. According to him, while such allocations were approved, the SLOC Inc will only release those funds if the associations can show where they will source the shortfall.

“That is going to be the trademark of the SLOC Inc going forward,” Emmanuel stated. “Persons will have to declare to the SLOC Inc in full whom they have approached for assistance, what level of assistance has been committed to them by other stakeholders, and, at the end of the day, the organisation, with its limited financial resources, will be in a position to offer assistance.”

Emmanuel urged all associations to focus heavily on performance and results. He also challenged them to ensure that when they represent Saint Lucia, they do so diligently.