 Associations and federations representing the various sporting disciplines on the island met with officials of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports at a retreat organized by the agency to foster better and stronger partnerships. The event registered the participation of 20 organizations from athletics, aquatics, badminton, basketball, bodybuilding, boxing, chess, cricket and cycling to football, martial arts, squash, tennis and volleyball. Minister for Youth Development and Sports, Hon. Kenson Kasemi was in attendance. Today we are having this retreat with members of all the sporting associations in St. Lucia. Today we have 20 different associations being represented at this retreat and the entire idea is to get from them what some of the issues are, what are some of the challenges and most importantly to foster a way forward in developing sports in St. Lucia. Administrators are really, really an integral part of sporting development in St. Lucia and so we felt as a ministry that is important for us to understand the role of the ministry, the role of the association and all other auxiliary groups in the development of sports in St. Lucia. So it's been going very good so far. I think we have been able to exchange notes, we've been able to exchange ideas, we've been able to argue with each other, we've been able to come back at the table and see what can be done and it's all in the interest of further development of sports here. While acknowledging the constraints under which most associations operate, Minister Kasemi says the ministry's intention is to establish a functioning sports policy that will guide this matter. The fact is we would like for every single association to have access to as many resources required for them to flourish, for the activities to develop and for athletes to be their best selves. The reality is we have resource constraints and so it is never the desire of this ministry to give some associations attention why we don't give others. I think this is an opportunity for us to sit at the table, for us to discuss some of the challenges we face as sports administrators. The ministry is also working on the overall sports policy for this nation. For a very long time we've not seen anything concrete as it pertains to how sports is administered, who administers sports in the strategic ways and how we go forward with sports over the next couple of years for the next decade. And so we felt it was very, very important as a ministry to chart the way forward by ensuring we have an overall sports policy. The minister also highlighted a lack of attention and recognition given to former athletes. I believe that all national athletes, every single national athlete within a particular year should not be paying to attend nationally televised and nationally recognised activities at our facilities. I believe it should be policy. And so when I hear a footballer who played national football for so many years come to me as a minister and say to me, Saint Lucia is playing against Anguilla and I see a former national athlete, someone who was a PRO for an organisation who on many occasions bought food, bought water for different individuals to see them develop in sport come to me and ask me for a ticket to go to Darren's Army to watch Saint Lucia play football. It really says that something has been wrong. Some of the topics covered at the retreat included long-term athlete development, annual subventions, partnerships and collaborations, safeguarding in sports, national sports policies, rewards and incentives and women in sports. The National Sports Association's retreat was held at the Bay Gardens Hotel, Rodney Bay. From the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, I am Juma Fannes.