BASSETERRE, St Kitts, 4th November, 2022 – The Ministry of Constituency Empowerment in partnership with the St Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) and the 2022 Super 6 Teams, commit to partnering in a community development and empowerment programme through Sports Empowerment and Ambassadorship.
The six teams, S.L. Horsford St Paul’s United FC, St Peters FC, Sol IAS Conaree FC, HE Garden Hotspurs and Rams Village Superstars, all agreed to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry.
By signing the MoU, Clubs signal their agreement to accept a grant of ten thousand East Caribbean Dollars ($10,000XCD) for club development expenses. This includes being partners with footballers, football teams or individuals who are associated with football who seek support in organizing football-related activities.
Another condition of the MoU states that Clubs will agree to adopt, support and promote any of the eight empowerment agendas which include, energy, water, food security, youth activism, education, climate action, culture and sports development. In keeping with its mandate to promote club development and more importantly, community-based partnerships with the government, The Ministry has embarked on this Football Club Development Programme.
Minister of Constituency Empowerment, The Hon. Dr. Joyelle Clarke said, the Government realizes the social impact of sporting groups in communities, as such, it will create programmes through which the groups can be further developed and, in this case, the SKNFA teams will benefit from small club development grants that are intended to support club expenses at the community-level. These grants will assist with better club organization and enhancement.
Over the last two years, sporting groups have been impacted tremendously by the COVID-19 pandemic which delayed their ability to function at optimum levels including financially.
Additionally, the Football Club Development Project will, in time, widen its scope to include more clubs and seek to boost personal development. This will involve the Most Valuable Players who champion empowerment issues such as Environmental Stewardship and Health and Wellness. They will ultimately be named “MVP Ambassadors”.
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