St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Olympic Committee
Newsletter MAY 16, 2012
Celebrations
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SVGNOC turns 30
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The St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Olympic Committee was officially established on 6 January 1982. This year, 2012, therefore, marks the 30th anniversary of the organisation and we intend to mark this occasion in a very spectacular way. The work of those who were involved in the struggle to realise a National Olympic Committee has already been acknowledged in the publication of the History of the NOC, which was officially launched here on Tuesday 27 March 2012 in a brief ceremony at Frenches House.
25 Years of IOC Membership
NOC Founder Dr. Lennox Adams, NOC President Trevor Bailey
Citius Altius Fortius
Faster, Higher, Stronger
On 6 April 1982, the NOC applied to the IOC for membership of that organisation. However, since that time there were several exchanges between the NOC and the IOC on issues relating to the constitution of our body and the requirements of the IOC. All outstanding matters were resolved and at the IOC Session in Istanbul, Turkey, 9 – 12 May 1987, the IOC approved our application. The letter of recognition from the IOC to the N OC was dated 22 May 1987. This year therefore, the NOC celebrates its 25th year of IOC membership on 22 May.
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2012 is a very important year in the calendar of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Olympic Committee. From our foundation to our accession of membership of the IOC through to our formation of the National Olympic Academy, there is much for us to celebrate. In early March. we celebrated the book launch of our Olympic History, the first by an NOC in the English-speaking Caribbean. This document serves as an important resource for students as well as a point of departure for further research into our Olympic sporting history and legacy. We are also about to celebrate the first edition of our Olympic Sports Hall of Fame in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, yet another the first in the English-speaking Caribbean. One of our schools, the St. Vincent Grammar School has been twinned with the Lealands High School in England as part of the outreach programme of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG). Tolga Akcayli has already booked his place to the London Olympics as the lone Vincentian swimmer. Athletes in track and field Athletics have until 30 June to make the established standards with Natasha Mayers, Kineke Alexander, Courtney Williams and Courtny Bascombe among those vying to make the team. Keithland King of Boxing is awaiting a decision by the governing body for the sport – AIBA – to determine whether he would receive a wild card. The NOC continues to offer programmes for the development of sport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with sessions for athletes, sports
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ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OLYMPIC HOUSE No. 1, Kingstown Park, Kingstown St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tel: 784-457-2970 Fax: 784-485-6412 Cell: 784-533-0869 Email: svgnoc@vincysurf.com Website: www.svgnoc.org
NOA reaches 20
On 11 November 1992, at a brief ceremony at Olympic House, Kingstown Park, the NOC officially launched the National Olympic Academy (NOA) to serve as its educational arm – the first such institution to be developed in the English-speaking Caribbean. Then Minister of Education, Youth and Sport, John Horne, delivered the feature address. Since then the NOA has undertaken a range of activities annually to bolster the image of the NOC and facilitate the spread of Olympism in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This year we observe the 20th Anniversary of the NOA.
Olympic Hall of Fame St. Vincent and the Grenadines is relatively young in the International Olympic Movement but has taken the bold step of planning for its own Olympic Hall of Fame. Despite the several outstanding performances by Vincentians in sport there has been little by way of permanent recognition of them or their
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F.O. MASON SVG loses sporting icon
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played a half-volley back down the wicket. I was only a youngster, not yet 21, but Everton wanted our fellow islander in the team and coached me in the politics. I was sorry for Frank, because he was a darn good bowler, but it was Wes who was picked.’ Some seem to think that it was Sober’s conscience that piqued him to pen this piece and have it included in his autobiography. Mason therefore, lost out on an excellent opportunity to represent the region he loved so dearly. At the local level, Mason boasts among his exploits bowling the amazing Frank Worrell at the King George V Park at Arnos Vale for a duck in one match and coming as a change bowler in another for 25 runs. Neither Worrell not Mason ever forgot the exciting piece of bowling that led to the former’s demise in little, seemingly insignificant St. Vincent.
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Frank Odel Mason, born 26 July 1926, the very year that the first edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) were held, died on Tuesday 8 May 2012, just shy of his 86th birthday. The achievements of Frank Mason are legendary for those who follow the sport of cricket. But in his childhood he was a sprinter and later the nation’s fastest and most fearsome bowler and national goalkeeper. Mason’s dominance of fast bowling at the local level in the late 1940s through to the 1960s was of course overshadowed by the insularity that plagues Caribbean politics and sport to this very day. Garfield Sobers, one of the finest cricketers ever to don flannels, recounted in his autobiography the insidious plot entered into by his Barbadian colleagues and himself to keep Mason out of a place on the West Indies cricket team. Sobers wrote: ‘The trials from the West Indies were very much like our trials for the Barbados team. There were players you wanted on the team and players you wanted to knock off. Wes Hall and Frank Mason were competing for one of the places for a fastbowler. At the time Frank was a better bowler than the young, up-and-coming Wes but Everton Weekes and I decided that we would take on Mason and knock him out of the firing line to try to get our fellow Bajan, Wes, in the team. Poor Frank could not believe what was happening to him as the ball flew to all corners of the boundary. Good balls were hit for four and bad balls for six. By contrast, we played a straight bat to everything Wes bowled saying ‘good ball’ as we
MAY 16, 2012
FO Mason is dead
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Mason, playing in his final game for St. Vincent and the Grenadines literally won a match against Dominica with a near unbelievable, 13 overs, 3 maidens, 13 runs, 9 wickets. As Mason so proudly stated, that’s how I ended my career. Frank Odel Mason was a friend of the Olympic Movement in St. Vincent and the Grenadines making available to us at the National Olympic Academy his daughter, Sherrill-Ann, who was a leading figure in the early days of the organisation, the educational arm of the National Olympic Committee. FO also loaned the NOA some of his personal cricket memorabilia including the ball with which he dismissed Dominica in that fateful match and a stump that he broke in an amazing spell of fast bowling. Unfortunately someone stole the ball with which he dismissed Frank Worrell for a duck. FO Mason, dead at 85. EDITORIAL continued from Page 2
leaders, coaches and technical officials. Wayne Williams is into the final phase of his MEMOS Executive Masters Programme in Sports Organisation Management. Rawlson Morgan has successfully completed the ICECP advanced programme for coaches. On Friday 18 May, the NOC would team up with Team Athletics St. Vincent and the Grenadines to host Michael Tovar of MONDO, one of the world’s leading suppliers of synthetic track surfaces, to discuss with the governmental authorities here the possibility of a track for use by athletes in the future. As we continue on our Road to London 2012 the NOC feels proud that we have come this far and look forward to all Vincentians celebrating with as for the next several weeks through to the conclusion of the London Olympics.
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achievements. The idea of the NOC establishing an Olympic Hall of Fame relates directly to the importance of paying due recognition to outstanding athletes, coaches, technical officials, administrators, sponsors and volunteers who have contributed much to where the Olympic Movement in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has reached in its growth and development.
Gala Dinner On 14 June, the NOC will host a Gala Dinner to celebrate the foregoing milestones in its short history. Invitations will be sent to all affiliates to ensure that we can share our achievements over the years.
Road to London 2012
Participants of the Caribbean Coaching Certification
Programmme
The NOC here has already received approval to deliver to two local associations technical course for the training of coaches. The SVG Taekwondo Association will host a technical course during the period July 1323 while the SVG Football Federation will host its coaching course during the period November 19-23, 2012. In both instances the funding will come via the NOC from Olympic Solidarity, the Development arm of the International Olympic Committee. The foregoing courses forms part of the quadrennial programme of Olympic Solidarity with the NOC.
Swimming to get 6-month course
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Association is the latest national sports association affiliated to the NOC to benefit from an extended six-month course dubbed, Development of a National Sport Structure. Athletics, Basketball, Table Tennis, Tennis and Volleyball have already benefitted from similar programmes each valued at $25,000 USD. The expert approved by the international governing body for the sport (now called Aquatics) - FINA - is David Farmer of Barbados. The local association will benefit immensely from the experience of Farmer and would be in good stead especially since they now have access to a pool of their own. Indeed, the course was not extended to the local organisation in the past precisely because of the absence of a pool deemed suitable to the needs of FINA. The NOC is awaiting final approval and documentation for the programme to begin. The NOC is in no doubt that swimming would make full use of the opportunity provided.
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4. Promotion of our participation in Olympic Qualification competitions 5. Preparation for the London Olympics 6. Promoting Sport and the Environment 7. Supporting national sports associations 8. Hosting of the Training of Trainers Workshop on the revised Manual for the Caribbean Coaching Certification Programme (CCCP) 9. Conduct of workshops on Sport Leadership
NOC delivers more Technical Courses
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Participants of the Sport Art workshop were Teachers and Students
NOC delivers ... MAY 16, 2012
For some time the NOC has been engaged in a number of activities under the banner, Road to London 2012. These activities include but are not limited to: 1. Exhibitions of sport memorabilia and the dissemination of information on the Olympic Movement at schools around the country 2. The hosting of programmes on radio in relation to interviews conducted by the NOA 3. A national Sport Art Competition
TWINNING MAY 16, 2012
Delegates from Lealands visit the St Vincent and the Grenadines High Commission
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On Thursday 10th May, thirteen Year 10 students made their way to Kensington in London to visit the St. Vincent and the Grenadines High Commission. Despite getting a little confused on the underground we made our way to Kensington Place by mid-morning; it was easy to locate the Commission as all the buildings were flying their respective flags above the doorway. When we entered the building we were greeted by Mrs. Doris Charles, the Deputy High Commissioner who was to host us for the day. A programme had been arranged for us that enabled us to tour the building and meet the entire staff; it was surprising to discover that there were only eight including the Commissioner.
The first office we entered was concerned with the promotion of Tourism; we were shown brochures of some fantastic Caribbean resorts which made everyone envious
of the Islands lifestyle. For anyone who has seen the film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, it will give you a flavour of St. Vincent as it was filmed there. The UK is where most tourists come from who visit the islands; we were shown an island we could buy if we had a few million pounds spare!! After climbing the stairs to the top of the building we spent 20 minutes with the High Commissioner, Mr. Cenio Lewis who explained what his job entailed and how they were preparing to host their Olympic team. Lunch was provided in the beautiful ‘Blue Room’ where guests to the Commission were entertained; we sat around the grand table deciding how to solve delicate international issues. After lunch we spent the remainder of the day with Mrs. Charles who gave us a presentation about St. Vincent; we listened to music, looked at some of the cottage industry products from the islands, found out about the history and geography of the islands and finally Mrs. Charles stood and passionately sang their National Anthem to the group. Her enthusiasm for her country was clear and it left the group keen to explore ways in which we could arrange an exchange between St. Vincent Grammar School and Lealands. As we made our way home we had a chance to look at the Olympic Rings hanging in St. Pancreas Station to welcome passengers entering the UK on the Eurostar. We would like to thank the SVG High Commission for the time and effort they put into what was a very enjoyable and informative day.