BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH 2020 being a difficult year for many, and with social distancing caused by COVID-19 along with the Federation being divided along political lines following the June 5 General Elections, sports can be the major factor to bring people together to celebrate.
That is the view expressed by the Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Denzil Douglas, who recently took timeout to support the team from his Constituency, the SL Horsford St. Paul’s Unit FC that was victorious in the 2019/2020 Super Six Playoffs.
The outspoken veteran politician told SKNVibes that with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many people to social distance, the large turnout and support for the recently held Super Six Series highlighted what sports could do in bridging any gap.
“The fact that COVID-19 has devastated our country, our economy and, to a large extent, has created social distancing between our peoples, what other opportunities are there to bring back our people together than sports.
“And so tonight I see this as, even though St. Paul’s and the Village were competitors, the beginning of a return to cohesion and moving forward together in the future. It symbolises significantly that sports can be the unifying factor that will bridge that divide which COVID caused in terms of social distancing,” explained Douglas.
In what was described as a challenging year for sporting events in the Federation and across the world, the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) was able to resume its 2019/2020 season, much to the delight of residents.
Looking forward to 2021, Douglas believes that even with the realities that COVID-19 has had on people’s lives, on the economy and social contact, the time to rebuild begins now to have people become more active and back at work.
To this end, he has challenged the SKNFA to see how best it could assist in creating an environment where people could get engaged in returning to work.
“Too many of our people are out of work,” Dr. Douglas said. “So how can we be creative, how can the St. Kitts Nevis Football Association be creative not only in terms of bringing people together socially through sports, but finding avenues for their active engagement and thus impacting positively on the lives of our people. That is what I think we need,” Douglas added.
The Member of Parliament noted that the game and its end “is just the beginning of many things to come in a positive and impactful way”.
