DIRECTOR of Sport Christopher Jones yesterday charged the almost 180 young participants of the Easter Vacation Swimming Programme to be consistent in sports, as he delivered the feature address at the closing ceremony at the Colgrain Swimming Pool on Camp Street.
Students between the ages of 6 and 11years have spent the past two weeks learning the basic skills of swimming.
The programme is part of the National Sports Commission’s mandate, which aims at introducing swimming at a young age.
“We want to start the children off in sports, not only swimming. You have to start from young and be consistent. And of course you would be nowhere without the support of your parents. After the programme concludes, parents you need to now take the next step and get the kids registered with the clubs, and be consistent with them,” Jones said.
Jones explained that sports can open many opportunities for athletes, locally, adding that the government is working to put a policy in place where scholarships can be offered to athletes once they display the necessary perquisites.
However, according to Jones, such initiative will only be made possible once the commitment from the parents is evident.
The programme was held daily from Monday to Friday at the Colgrain Swimming Pool and at the National Aquatic Centre (NAC).
The participants were divided into two groups with students between the ages of 9 and 11 training at the NAC, while students 6 to 8 years old remained at Colgrain.
Each group had three instructors. Marcia Rodrigues, Marisa Wray and Denroy Trotman worked with the younger group, while instructors at the NAC were Paul Mahaica, Dewane Griffith and Quancy Henry.