BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE natural beauty of the Silver Jubilee Anniversary Stadium was enhanced over the weekend when the squad of young athletes preparing for the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) Games and the Leeward Island Championships took time out of their training to plant trees and commemorate World Athletics Day.
World Athletics Day was started in 1996 by the IAAF as a way to encourage youths in member federations to further their interest in the sport of track and field. According to the IAAF, this year’s World Athletics Day sought to “firmly establish an important link between the youth, our sport, and environmental conservation”.
To this end, the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletics Association (SKNAAA), St. Kitts Teachers Union (SKTU) and the Department of Sports teamed up on Saturday (May 15) to plant a number of palm trees at the national stadium.
“The project is intended to sensitize our youths to the importance of preserving our environment even as we seek to develop our sports. We are hopeful that this will give them some idea of how they can go about protecting their own environment even as they pursue their athletic goals,” SKNAAA General-Secretary Elneth Henry told SKNVibes.
She added that the association hopes for the youths to carry with them the importance of preserving the environment even after the tree-planting ceremony was completed.
“I don’t think it’s a one-off thing. This is the impetus that we need to encourage our youths to preserve their environment.”
Speaking on behalf of the Department of Sports, Craig Connor noted the successful partnership with the SKNAAA that has been developed over the years and said the department was grateful the stadium would never turn into a “concrete jungle”.
“We intend in the next few years to have up here really looking beautiful, a place where everyone would want to come because of how natural it is,” he said.
As the General Secretary of the SKTU and a member of the organizing committee for the 2010 CUT Games, Carlene Henry-Morton praised the many gathered youths for their contribution to the environment on World Athletics Day. She also asked the public to return the favor with strong crowd support when St. Kitts hosts the games in July.
“The young, energetic people you see behind us here, I have no doubt that many of them would be on the St. Kitts squad in July and I would like to take this opportunity to invite the general public to put the CUT Games on your summer calendar,” she said.
The CUT Track and Field Championships will be held from July 24-25 and the opening ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday, July 23.
