media_artricles :: 2015

Smith praises NGC Sports Programme

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith praised The National Gas Company of T&T Limited (NGC) for seeking an interest in sport, at the launch of the NGC Right On Track Programme at the Radisson Hotel in Port-of-Spain, yesterday.

The programme, which is being held with the support of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) and the National Basketball Federation of T&T (NBFTT), will teach young people the skills of track and field and basketball.

At the launch Minister Smith said, “For too long we have not been appreciating work such as what NGC is doing with this programme. I am looking forward to the Right On Track programme and I hope it continues for many years to come. Let us focus on the young people and the athletes. Let us take a back seat and let them be the spotlight.”

Christine Punnett, manager Corporate Communications at NGC, said that Hasely Crawford’s 100-metre gold medal run at the 1976 Olympics, showed that more must be given to sport in T&T.

Punnett said: “Through the countless accolades that followed on the heels of his (Crawford) achievement, he proved to T&T that sport held a wellspring of potential for national development and recognition, that it was a viable and rewarding career option and it deserved greater investment.

“These were fundamental reasons behind the conceptualization and implementation of NGC Right On Track development programme in 1999, spearheaded by none other than the man himself – Mr Hasely Crawford – then head of community relations at NGC. The Right On Track development programme, which initially centred on athletics, today teaches skills in both track and field and basketball to children at the Primary and Secondary School levels via its ambulant Coaching Caravan.”

Punnett explained that in the programme, coaches are trained to promote sustainablility and build capacity in the sporting disciplines. Since 1999, the Right On Track programme has benefitted over 15,000 participants in 105 communities and eight institutions. It has trained 88 coaches and it has formed and/or restored seven sport clubs.

The head of both the NAAA and the NBFTT plauded NGC for contributing to sport in T&T. President of the NAAA’s Ephraim Serrette said, “I want to thank NGC for their intervention and support to the sport of track and field. We look forward to future work with the NGC.”

Garvin Warwick, president of the NBFTT, stated, “I want to thank NGC for believing in the sport of basketball for 18 plus years.

“Relationships and opportunities for the development like this one are what we have been working towards to foster the growth of the sport.” Warwick explained that these programmes will attract more people, including sponsors to the sport of basketball.

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