By Neto Baptiste
Revealing that it cost somewhere around EC$150,000 to send the national swim team to St Lucia for the OECS Swimming Championships, treasurer of the local federation, businessman Kem Warner, said it was mainly through a number of fundraising events, a few corporate citizens, and dedicated parents that they were able to make the trip possible.
“We had to pay for a charter but that was mainly for the majority of the swimmers, coaches and some parents. Then [about] 12 of us actually went on a separate flight, and so it was a charted full flight plus about 12 more. The funds spent [weren’t] that of the federation per sé. The federation would have contributed so the parents and the federation actually contributed to getting everyone down [to St. Lucia]. Majority of the monies came from the parents of the swimmers. We did not get any funds [from the government] in terms of going to the OECS,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda emerged winners of the championships after amassing 1,111 points to edge hosts and rivals St Lucia, who were second with 1,018 points.
Warner said that a number of fundraising events are planned for November as the federation seeks to return at least a portion of the funds expended by parents.
“We are still actually working on a few more things, which is another big raffle which should be drawn this month. [Also] our annual event called the Bubbles Fete, but this time they are going to turn it into what you call a wine and cheese event … to raise funds to offset the funds spent by parents and the federation,” he said.
However, it is not the first time the federation has struggled to get government funding when travelling to represent the country, and parents are often left with the bill.
Warner, speaking on the Connecting with Dave Lester Payne Show on Wednesday, revealed there are other outstanding matters pertaining to promised refunds to parents and to the federation.
“It is not just OECS; some parents had kids participating at Carifta, CCCAN and others like FINA junior worlds and they have not gotten back any refunds for those events. We got some funds for Carifta from the government to pay back in and that is there to be paid out with OECS. We are waiting on more funds to come in and we want to make sure that parents get proper refunds,” the treasurer said.
Team Antigua and Barbuda returned home on Monday to a warm welcome at the VC Bird International Airport where they were met by officials from the NOC and the Ministry of Sports, to include Minister of Sports, Daryll Matthew.