CASTRIES, ST LUCIA, May 27,
2026 – Alfred Emmanuel says the Association of National Olympic Committees
of the Eastern Caribbean States (ANOCES) was created to help fill a major gap
in regional sports development following the decline and eventual disappearance
of the OECS Sports Desk.
Speaking on Saturday’s TalkSports
programme, Emmanuel, a founding member of ANOCES and President of the St Lucia
Olympic Committee (SLOC) Inc., reflected on the original vision behind the
organisation and its growing role in coordinating sporting opportunities for
athletes across the Eastern Caribbean.
“Well, if you can recall, before
ANOCES, we had what we call the OECS Sports Desk, which was responsible for
trying to coordinate sporting activities in the region,” Emmanuel explained.
According to the veteran sports
administrator, the gradual decline of the OECS Sports Desk led to a reduction
in regional competitions that once provided valuable opportunities for athletes
from the smaller islands.
“We slowly saw the death of the
desk, and we saw the decline in the various sporting competitions that we, as
small islands, would have benefited from,” he said.
Emmanuel noted that the region’s
National Olympic Committees recognised the growing void and decided to
collaborate through a more structured organisation supported by independent
funding mechanisms.
“So it was with that in mind that
we decided, as National Olympic Committees with an independent source of
funding, if we come together in an organised manner, we would be of assistance
to our members,” he stated.
He admitted that building ANOCES
into an effective regional body has not been easy.
“That has been a really
painstaking task for us. But I am saying, at the end of the day, I think we’re
getting there,” Emmanuel added.
The SLOC President pointed to
tangible progress in 2026, revealing that with support from Panam Sports,
ANOCES is coordinating five regional sporting events this year.
Among them are the recently held Under-23 3x3 Basketball Tournament in the British Virgin Islands, the upcoming
OECS Athletics Championships and Under-20 Beach Volleyball competition in St Kitts
and Nevis in July, and table tennis and swimming events scheduled for Saint
Lucia later this year.
The renewed programme is being
viewed as an important step in rebuilding consistent regional competition
pathways for athletes in the Eastern Caribbean.
During the discussion, Emmanuel
was also asked whether ANOCES now effectively serves as a replacement for the
former OECS Sports Desk.
“I think that’s exactly it,” he
responded. “ANOCES now would have to fill that void because clearly the Heads
of Government of the OECS… have placed their energies into other areas.”
He stressed that in the absence
of a dedicated regional sports structure, organisations like ANOCES must now
assume greater responsibility for sustaining sporting development across the
sub-region.
“With the absence of a dedicated sports desk, somebody has to pick up the challenge. And if ANOCES had to do it, then so be it,” Emmanuel declared.
No comments:
Post a Comment