Lewis calls for sport stakeholders to make $$ sacrifices

“The dependency on, and attitude of entitlement to Government funding, cannot continue to be the default position for stakeholders within the sport industry,” he stated. “National Sport Organisations (NSOs) must undertake Constitution Reform and modernise their governance structures to include term limitations, democratic elections, submission of audited accounts and holding of annual general meetings and honouring the commitment to good governance.” Lewis was speaking in reference to the limited amount of sport stakeholders in TT and urged them to eradicate wastage and implement good governance codes to secure efficiency and effectiveness. He also welcomed new investors in sport, insisting that this nation’s sporting industry is booming with talent and could only be bolstered by additional investment.

“Good governance, effective and efficient sport management, transparency and accountability is the order of the day,” Lewis added. “When resources are limited, hard and difficult decisions must be made in respect of resource allocation.

Priorities must be established and sacrifices made. Budget measures that incentivise sport entrepreneurship and sport tourism will contribute to the growth and development of a sustainable sport industry.” The TTOC boss noted that NSOs must partner with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sport to ensure that there are qualified physical education teachers in every primary and secondary school in TT.

He concluded, “fostering creativity and innovation within sport in Trinidad and Tobago is the only way to ensure that sport achieves its greatest potential, and not only shares the burden but makes a positive difference.”