WITCO Sports Foundation at National Museum

THE National Museum and Art Galley is now home for the WITCO Sports Foundation’s exhibit. Government has taken control of the sports gallery, established two-and-a-half years ago by the West Indian Tobacco Company Limited, through their Sports Foundation, to honour the nation’s top sporting achievers. The gallery was previously housed at the Hasley Crawford Stadium, Fitz Blackman Drive, Port-of-Spain. The move comes as the company relinquishes control of the Sports Gallery as they did earlier this year with the 40-year-old and well established annual Sports Awards, which was designed to honour the country’s top sporting achievers.

The awards ceremony will now be conducted by First Citizens Bank (FCB). The handing-over ceremony held on Wednesday evening was attended by Anthony E Phillip, managing director of WITCO, as well as past and present company executives, Senator Joan Yuille-Williams Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, Larry Howai, chief executive officer at FCB and legends of the local sporting fraternity. Speaking at the ceremony, Phillip said the function marked the last public event of the West Indian Tobacco Sports Foundation and culminated 40 years of his company’s development of sports in Trinidad and Tobago. “This grand finale,” he said, “is the unveiling of the Sports Foundation Gallery dedicated to honouring the most prominent achievers in our country’s sporting history.”

Phillips added: “Our decision to end this sponsorship was indeed difficult, but necessary. The controversy surrounding the industry required, among other things, that we move away from significant sport sponsorship and that it would be in the best interest of the Sports Foundation, to find another sponsor that could continue to fully support their work and extend their activities to new areas.”  Twenty years ago, WITCO created this country’s first sports Hall of Fame at the Hasley Crawford Stadium, which today provides an accurate record of the achievement of 152 national sporting legends who have been inducted over the years.

To further complement their initiatives, the company hosted sport psychology seminars for national coaches and trainers.  Minister Yuille-Williams said the creation of a permanent museum exhibit is an appropriate away to record and highlight the achievement of our athletes as is the objective of both WITCO and the National Museum. She continued: “Museums and their exhibitions are important elements in the promotion of the national identity and pride. They are cultural institutions that are in the service of society and of its development.” The Minister indicated an undertaking by the State to not only upgrade and expand to National Museum and Art Gallery, but to establish community museums that will preserve the unique characteristics of several communities around the country.