media_artricles :: 2014

Lewis: Track and Field make positive difference

TRINIDAD and Tobago Olympic Committee Brian Lewis encouraged the track and field fraternity to walk with confidence and acknowledge the work done.

“The work by people in track and field for a number of years not just in terms of golden moments but in making a huge positive difference to the lives of many young men and women I sometimes feel dishearten that the people in track and field feel sometimes afraid to acknowledge and walk with the confidence they ought to.”

Lewis was speaking at the National Association of Athletic Administration (NAAA)’s annual awards ceremony at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Port-of-Spain on Saturday and envisaged that sports will be headlines news ahead of crime in the future.

“Sports and track and field in 2024 will remove the horrific stories of crime from the front pages. Lewis also encouraged the audience to stand for moral values and to trust in God. “Matthew 6:3 says Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and He will give you everything you need. Honesty, Integrity, Ethics and Morality in public office are important. Don’t be afraid of the evil doers and those with perverse minds. Our god is a great and powerful God.”

Meanwhile, feature speaker Pastor Clive Dottin is confident that sports can win the fight against crime.

“If all our sporting heroes join in the fight against crime we would beat those criminals. Sports have a psychological momentum to destroy the toxins of crime. Sports must be that psychological and spiritual steroid to lift our country because we are going through a depressing moment. When we are hear the crime news that is depressing but when we hear of the exploits of George Bovell 111, Jehue Gordon and Shantol Ince, Dylan Carter, that is inspiring.

“In his energetic and lively speech Dottin praised the efforts of Ince. “She continues to go for a golden character and proves to us that all our giants can be conquered. She is a luminary inspire of her physical challenges.”

Dottin encouraged the athletes to have a vision of what they want to achieve. “Anyone who wants to be a success must have the end in sight, where the finish line is located. Don’t engage in NTS (Negative thinking syndrome). It is not the size of your island but the size of your thinking. It is not the size of your bank account but the size of your integrity.”

He singled out swimmer Bovell for not giving up on his goal. “Don’t listen to the people who say you can’t do it. Listen to those who say you could do it and move forward and prove to them that you could do it. George Bovell refused to retire after the 2012 Olympics and went on the next year at the FINA (World Otdoor Swimming championships) to win bronze.”

NAAA president Ephraim Serrette did not present a review of track and field saying he opted to let the video presentation shown tell of the past year in the sports.

Special presentations were made to National Gas Company, Petrotrin, Sagicor General Insurance, Sport Company and the Ministry of Sports for support of track and field over the years.

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