 Members of the St. Lucia team to the 2023 Carrefter Games returned home on Wednesday evening through the George F. L. Charles Airport. Three of the athletes returned to schools overseas, but the remaining six and their management team were treated to a hero's welcome by family, friends, government officials and sponsors. After enjoying St. Lucia's most successful outing in terms of medal counts with eight total medals in the Bahamas, the team is brimming with confidence. Double silver sprint medalist Naomi London says she wants to be an inspiration to young athletes. We need to notch our outfits. I mean, we can do it. There are so many more little kids who will wish that they have a medal on their neck from Carrefter. So I think as a young outfit, I will inspire the rest and we will come together just to form a larger group next year for Carrefter. For the first time ever, St. Lucia secured medals in every division and St. Lucia athletes climbed the medal rostrum in every event group in which they were entered. The national team was chaired on by tens of thousands watching live on TV and online, glued to the exploits of the island's champions, who rewarded parents, fans, friends and fellow citizens with the best performance ever by athletes from the Helen of the West. The greatest moment at these games was to hear, they commented. I remember last year it was about the DVI, but this year it was about St. Lucia, St. Lucia, St. Lucia. So I think that we went out there and we actually gave it a very good account of ourselves. It just goes to show that we have the ability. Our size does not matter. It's about our commitments and we're willing to go out there and perform. And we did this. We executed well. And so I can only imagine what is yet to come. The Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, along with the St. Lucia Athletics Association, have pledged to work more closely with one another in hopes of putting together a bigger, stronger team to head over to the Spice Island one year yens. In a bid for more podium appearances, the intention is to find more opportunities for young athletes to compete on the original stage. The better to prepare them for the Carifter Games. We have to do a number of things. Firstly, we have to ensure the facilities are up to par. They are game ready and they are well maintained. Secondly, we have to ensure there's sustainable programming. We need to ensure that our coaches are well trained. They are the highest level because there's a direct relationship between the quality of coaches and the quality of athletes that they put forward. So we will continue to work with our athletes. As I indicated, we are going to work assiduously with the Athletics Association to ensure that the programming is in sync with ours. We've invested heavily in a Cuban specialist coach who, like I said, is based in Sufran. There's a reason for that. There's a track facility at the Mini Stadium. We are hoping to track as many athletes as possible. Also, what we are going to do is to ensure that our athletes compete more in regional and international games. We're looking at how we can have them also participate in regional, more regional meets. Of course, the local meets that we have here. And to ensure that these other international meets that our athletes get an opportunity to represent their country, represent themselves, to improve themselves, and to showcase themselves to the world and send them to show as well. Because at the end of the day, they are our ambassadors. They've been put in the work and so we have to ensure that we get them the opportunities. Whilst all stakeholders are celebrating this year's 8th Medal Hall, they are also already turning their attention to the question of how to build on the historic success enjoyed in the Bahamas. From the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, I am Denise Florenville.