By Neto Baptiste
If elected for a second four-year term as president of the Antigua and Barbuda Cycling Federation (ABCF), St Clair Williams has vowed to concentrate on the areas of education and youth development.
The federation is set to host its electoral congress on February 9 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound.
“We are going to put a lot of seminars in place for educational purposes and we are going to focus a lot on the development of the young cyclists that we have in the sport right now. We’re hoping that the more senior persons will assist that transition because that is what we need in terms of the continuation development … from the senior members like Robert Marsh and Jyme Bridges and so on, because we need that continuity,” he said.
Williams went on to highlight a number of areas in which the administration has excelled since taking office back in 2019.
“We would have put a proper insurance system in place and that is the first time we have ever had that in Antigua and Barbuda in cycling; that is one of the major things we would have done. Another thing is that from since our inception, this particular executive, we would have launched an online campaign with respect to putting all of our races or streaming them live on Facebook. That’s another thing that no other association or federation has been doing in Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.
The incumbent, who expects there to be challengers for the post on the night of the election, reminded that a number of initiatives have also been started under his tenure.
“We would have brought onstream a really good robust programme where we’re getting assistance from the UCI [Union Cycliste Internationale]. We would have gotten 10 new bicycles to outfit us with that programme and … we’ve launched an online campaign with respect to online cycling. So, now we have … online smart trainers where our cyclists can stay wherever they are, in their homes or their office, and do races online, or do casual riding with other persons around the world,” Williams said.
The AGM is slated to start at 7.30pm and will include the tabling of the financial report and the president’s report.