Project leader of the Public Health and Sports Department Lauren Risley (left) presented the Sports Policy 2022-2025 to Commissioner of Sport and Public Health Rolando Wilson.
SABA--The public entity Saba recently presented its 2022-2025 Sports Policy. The intention is to use sports in Saba as a tool to promote a healthy lifestyle, to teach life skills and encourage positive social interaction.
The policy outlines a clear vision for the future of sports in Saba to use it as a means to a healthy lifestyle and as an empowerment tool. Sports can be a method to teach life skills, as a way of exercising and to promote positive social interaction.
The sports policy contains four strategic priority areas for implementation that are necessary for a strong foundation in continuing to develop sports in Saba: sports in school, rotating sports seasons, community involvement and the Saba United Sports Federation.
The priority areas were based on discussions within the Public Health and Sports Department, the input from stakeholders, including the schools, and a meeting with members of the sports community.
The aim is to have the priorities result in sports being incorporated in the gym class curriculum in the schools, Saba hosting and attending more inter-island competitions, more people feeling empowered to organise sporting events, more people feeling welcome to participate in sports, promotion of sports by the Sports Federation, and using sports as an empowerment tool to promote positive social interaction.
The goals are to set a clear framework for an overall sports federation, to expose the population to a wider variety of sports, to encourage the community to become involved, to reduce barriers to participation and organisation of sports, to encourage inclusivity in sports, to encourage better collaboration between stakeholders, and to promote integrity, respect, inclusion, discipline and leadership through sports.
The sports policy will also contribute to achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an agreement which Saba feels a responsibility to align with as a special municipality of the Netherlands.
Commissioner of Public Health and Sport Rolando Wilson was “very content” with the presentation of the Sports Policy 2022-2025. “The value of sports and recreation on our island simply cannot be overemphasised. Not only are these fundamental in improving our health and fitness levels, but are also the key to keeping our community constructively occupied. Much more than this though, is that it provides our young people with the hope that they will be able to compete locally, regionally and internationally in various sports disciplines.
“With the awareness that sports are essential for our people’s health and that it contributes to various aspects of our personal development, I look forward to us making ‘sports’ a priority to improve our lifestyle here on Saba,” said Wilson.
Investing in the advancement of sports on Saba offers an opportunity to address some of the challenges that Saba faces in an accessible and inclusive manner. The challenges include people getting insufficient physical activity, damaging alcoholic consumption, and behavioural, social and/or emotional problems.
Sports have always been a major component to life on Saba. Children are introduced to sports as a recreational activity from youth programmes, continue on to competitive teams in secondary school, and many remain involved throughout adulthood.
The main sports in Saba are basketball, volleyball, soccer, and softball/baseball. Other sports are running, cycling, swimming and boxing. These sports occur in the designated facilities used for sports: Cruyff Court, Princess Juliana Sports Field, and/or the Gym in St. John’s.
Saba currently only has basic facilities for sports. A few more amenities are considered beneficial for further development of physical activity and sports, including a swimming pool, a BMX facility and a beach volleyball court.
Looking into the possibility of having these facilities in Saba is something the public entity is dedicated to. The aim is to have more research done next year.
For sports in school, the policy recommends expanding the Be Your Own Icon programme and to continue the Balance, Locomotor and Object Control (BLOC) assessments bi-annually. For the priority to rotate sports seasons, the policy recommends investment in local training and tournament organisation.
To promote community involvement, the policy recommends creating maintenance plans for every sports facility and to incorporate social agreements. The official establishing of the Sports Federation should improve cohesiveness among the sports organisations.
It is the intention of the sports policy to create structure and a clear direction to achieve a higher level of sport, and in turn reap the societal benefits that such an investment has on the community’s wellbeing.
