Sports Ministry, SPORTT, NGBs to meet on return-to-sport policy

THE Ministry of Sport and Community Development, the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) and the National Governing Bodies for sports (NGBs) will be meeting virtually on Wednesday with regards to the Ministry’s return-to-sport policy.

Making this disclosure was Jason Williams, CEO of SPORTT, during an interview on Monday.

The Ministry outlined its return-to-sport policy two weeks ago.

Williams said, “In 2020, when we got the okay for national athletes to resume training in preparation for the Olympics last year, we did have a sanitisation process in place. We had a process where any booking would go through the national sporting bodies, so at least they would know and they would be in control of a schedule for the national athletes for bookings. In terms of the readiness for the return for sport, the return for sport is on a phased basis with vaccinated individuals only.

“We’re actually meeting with all the NGBs on Wednesday in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport, for all the sporting bodies under their ambit, to go through the regulations and to highlight the processes,” he continued. “We’re going to develop a process flow, we’re going to be putting it on the websites – both Ministry of Sport and the Sports Company. Everybody will be in unity regards to what the process would be.”

Williams pointed out, “In terms of the facilities, we’ve been working as best as we can. We’ve had some repairs to take place. We’re looking to try to get these sorted out.

“The facilities have been used for training (at the national level) over the last year-and-a-half. This re-opening covers sporting events with a 50 per cent capacity, as well as other types of training.”

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba and the Diego Martin Sporting Complex, which were used to host matches in the recent ICC Under-19 World Cup, fall under the umbrella of UDECOTT, while the community grounds are under the auspices of the respective regional corporations.

Concerning other sporting venues, including the National Cycling Centre and the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, Williams said, “We’re already using them for training. We have minor works taking place but nothing that would affect the area for competition or for training.”

Asked about the general public’s desire to use the venues, Williams replied, “It’s not really taking place because it has to be coming through the NGBs or sporting associations. To say the normal person coming off the street to try to use the facilities, that would not happen at this point in time.

“We have to have some measure of control,” he continued. “A couple of our facilities are still being used as step-down facilities and vaccination sites, like the Racquet Centre, the Hasely Crawford Stadium and Larry Gomes (Stadium).”