(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Sport Directors at their third regional meeting in Georgetown, Guyana today (Tuesday 17 October, 2007) agreed that the time was now ripe for the development of a regional policy on Sport.

The meeting agreed that while there was a need for the formulation of national Sport policies which were active, practical and dynamic, there must be a regional policy to harmonise and drive the integrated approaches to Sport development in the Region.

In setting the tone at the meeting today, Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General of the Human and Social Development Directorate in the CARICOM Secretariat, urged the meeting to ensure that any regional policy formulated must be “an inclusive policy that speaks to the realities of various groups in society and engage them.”

Dr. Greene also noted that “Sport has a dual role to play in revenue generation in the Region and also importantly, in securing the well-being of Caribbean peoples.” In the latter regard therefore, he iterated that the organization of Sport must be related to “the moral fibre and the characteristic of the society and must speak to the moral issues that involve the creation of the Ideal Caribbean Citizen,” noting that this was in keeping with CARICOM’s thrust towards developing a Community for all.

“Sport is beyond the West Indies Team; beyond the Soca Warriors… beyond Asafa Powell; it is about the ordinary people who have inculcated the habits of competing against others and also against themselves in order to create a disciplined person. What we (CARICOM) are trying to create is a Community for all, and therefore when we talk about a strategy for Sport we have to talk about a strategy that includes all,” the Assistant Secretary-General opined.

According to Dr. Greene, the formulation of a regional policy must also consider issues such as broad regulations for fair competition, and the strengthening of anti-doping legislation, as well as emphasizing the nexus between Sport and other areas in the social sector such as education, health, youth and culture. He added that such a policy should also consider advocacy for appropriate financing of regional Sport programmes.

Chaired by Mr. Erskine King of Barbados, the Third Meeting of Regional Directors of Sport also made a strong call for the re-introduction of Physical Education (PE) in all primary and secondary schools in the Region, asserting that “it is the right of every child to participate in Physical Education.”

The Meeting also advocated for PE to become an examinable discipline in the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), and expressed concerns about the seeming dearth of PE teachers in schools.

Contact: piu@caricom.org