Basseterre, St. Kitts (May 13, 2007)
The Organisation of Caribbean Administrators of Sport and Physical Education (OCASPE) has a new executive and a reenergized programme after holding its annual general meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The meeting was planned around the Federation’s historic hosting of the inaugural Caribbean Conference of the International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance (ICHPER∙SD) held May 11 and 12 at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and Casino in Frigate Bay.
Public Relations Officer of OCASPE Erskine King told SKNIS that a key decision was taken to expand the current focus of its programmes and implement new ones.
“We already have some that are established in the healthy lifestyle programme which is in all member countries so far but we are also looking into the Under 13 programme which is already here in St. Kitts,” he said. “We are looking to expand that so all countries of the Caribbean can participate and we also looked at the sustainability of all the programmes organized by OCASPE.”
King noted that regional governments have been supportive of the programmes, realizing that youth development through sport is a time tested formula.
OCASPE was established by CARICOM Ministers of Sport in 1994. At a ceremony on Saturday evening, several awards were presented to past executives and other key contributors from government and partner agencies including CARICOM, the Australian Sports Commission and the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada.
Lloyd Lazar of St. Kitts and Nevis was reelected president of the association. His main responsibility is to ensure that the organization carries out the mandate of its membership. Lynette Glasgow of St Vincent and the Grenadines was elected vice president.