More than a dozen communities drawn from six parishes will take part in a day of sport next month celebrating International Day Of Sport For Development And Peace.
The global event, which will be staged here on April 8 at the Blenheim field, will be held under the aegis of the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) with support from the Barbados Lottery, UNICEF and the United States Embassy.
Speaking at a press launch yesterday morning at the BOA headquarters in Wildey, director of the Barbados Olympic Academy, Dave Farmer, mentioned that the multisports rally will feature football, basketball, netball and road tennis along with leisure games such as dominoes and cards.
“This is very much a community effort. The 16 communities are working together for a common goal of celebrating a multisports rally. It is . . . a fun day with the communities working very hard to make this event a reality.
“We have joined with three other partners, namely UNICEF, the embassy of the United States and Barbados Lottery, to bring everything together and to donate equipment, T-shirts and all the other things that go into celebrating the day,” he said.
Farmer, a top swimmer in his heyday, said he is hoping that the event will be celebrated throughout the Caribbean in future.
“This is our fourth year and we are hoping that as years go on, that this event will spread throughout the Caribbean.”
When the event was first celebrated here in 2015, it attracted just four communities. In 2016, there were eight, and the number rose to 14 last year.
Football is the major sport, with the Barbados Football Association providing officials for the competition that will see four matches being played simultaneously.
Communication for development specialist with UNICEF, Lisa McClean-Trotman, said her organisation was keen to work with various bodies to ensure that sport became a vehicle for peace.
Unicef will be providing T-shirts with a message on the back saying No To Violence, Yes To Peace.
“One of our roles is to ensure that we use sports to spread the message about child safeguarding and that children need safe places to play, to live and to grow.” (MK)