BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THROUGH the Ministry of Sports, the Government of National Unity has pledged its support to the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association (SKNABA) to construct the long-awaited indoor facility for sports disciplines.
This comes as the SKNABA bounces off their National League, which is heading into the hurricane season and is expected to be hampered, since the sport is played at an outdoor facility in Basketball City.
At the opening ceremony of the league yesterday (April. 3), Minister of Sports the Hon. Shawn Richards reaffirmed the Government’s commitment, noting that it is still one of the priority areas for the administration.
“I welcome the well-devised proposal of public/private partnership that can lead towards this becoming a tangible offer to shared goals and joint efforts in the very near future. I speak of the indoor facility that you have been petitioning for and I say to you that it is indeed one of the top priorities of the Ministry of Sports.”
Additionally, he explained that the Government is aware of the hurdles that the association is faced with when playing the league at their outdoor facility, which over years had been severely affected by inclement weather.
On several occasions the association had to cut short their season due to bad weather, which also adversely affected its hosting of regional tournaments.
Minister Richards noted that it would be great sentiments to the ears of the league sponsors to hear his continued commitment to developing the facility.
“I am certain these views are echoed by this 2015/2016 St. Kitts- Nevis Amateur Basketball Association league sponsors and in particularly the gold sponsor, National Bank.”
St. Kitts and Nevis is one of several countries in the region that do not have an indoor facility to play the sports discipline.
Most countries use their indoor basketball facility as a multi-purpose centre.
The talk of an indoor facility was first thrust into the spotlight under the Labour Administration, but that initiative fell through.
