Basketballs valued at an estimated CAD$24,000 (EC$47,600) have been handed over to local institutions and athletic programmes in an initiative led by the Ministry of External Affairs and Diaspora Affairs.
The 1,200 basketballs were donated through a partnership with Henry Mangal, the Saint Lucian Consul General in Toronto.
Mangal established a relationship with Tracy Archie Alexander, a Saint Lucian national employed at Canada’s Wonderland, an amusement park in the Toronto area. Alexander secured the donation and assisted with the logistics of delivering the equipment to Saint Lucia.
Julian Dubois, the Ambassador for Diaspora Affairs, indicated that the gift is part of a broader effort to develop the sport on the island.
“It’s our hope that we could get organised basketball, particularly among the very young, to the under 12s, the under 15s, the under 17s and so on,” he said. “We’ve been trying to solicit support for the basketball programme. We want to donate 25 balls to each of the secondary schools, as well as to the Basketball Federation. We want to give them 100 balls.”
Glen Guiste, president of the Saint Lucia Basketball Federation, said he was overjoyed at the assistance provided by the Department of External Affairs and the diaspora at large.
“We are so thankful for this donation. I know it’ll go a long way into the development of the sport. I could tell you that the sport is growing, so worry not, those balls will be put to good use,” he said.
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