$8M in SporTT waivers for 2023

THE Sport Company of TT (SporTT) helped national governing bodies (NGBs) to the tune of $8 million in waivers in 2023 in the first full year since the covid19 pandemic.

SporTT’s operations in accordance with the National Sports Company contribute to the development of sport in four key areas – infrastructural maintenance and development, elite athlete development, sport performance and sport for all and the oversight of 15 national governing bodies (NGBs) for sport.

A media release from SporTT on Friday, said, "SporTT has also been supporting sporting organisations, sport and athlete development and preparation. SporTT facilities logged nearly $5.12 million in waivers for NGBs, for a total of 9,444 sessions and a combined 26,285-plus hours for various sports. And the company waived a further $3.1 million in elite athlete services, including physio and psychology support."

SporTT made mention of a few achievements in 2023. "Among the year’s major highlights, the company was able to facilitate the smooth flow of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG). Trinbago 2023 is the largest multisport event to be held in TT, by ensuring the enhancement and readiness of three key venues: the National Cycling Velodrome, the National Aquatic Centre and Hasely Crawford Stadium —which hosted cycling, swimming and rugby and track and field respectively."

SporTT also distributed approximately $34.2 million in funding to NGBs to support various national team and athletes, for training and for hosting sporting events. The country had some memorable competitions, including the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships in Tobago and the Davis Cup and Carebaco Junior Championships at National Racquet Sports Centre in Tacarigua.

After attaining accreditation for the National Cycling Velodrome as a International Cycling Union (UCI) Satellite Centre for regional athlete training and development, the venue hosted a UCI Level II coaching course and an MTB (mountain biking) Talent ID course.

The GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport training programme was another standout on the national sport calendar. It provided training for 65 of the country’s coaches, physical education teachers and sport administrators to prepare them for school-specific programming that will boost youth and sport development and talent identification that will underpin the enhancement of the country’s overall sporting development programme.

Other major accomplishments include phase one of the I Choose Sport Pilot Project – which engaged school students and communities through a caravan – and the expansion of Sport Youth Camps 2023 to serve 1,500 vacationing youth in 31 locations across the country.