Sports equipment from British High Commission to the NSC |13 May 2005

High Commissioner Diane Skingle presented the equipment to NSC managing director Eric Arnephy Thursday May 12 (afternoon) in a short ceremony at the headquarters of the local sports body at Roche Caïman. Present were NSC officials and young athletes.

The equipment includes four volleyballs, three basketball boards, six rugby balls, 37 footballs, three basketball rings, two volleyball nets, one inflator and three basketball nets.

In her speech, high commissioner Skingle said “nothing unites the world more than sports... You only have to look at the back pages of newspapers and watch TV bulletins throughout the world to understand the importance of sports in our lives today. Being in friendly competition with other sportsmen and women at local, regional and international levels gives people a sense of individual achievement, a sense of belonging and, importantly, being part of a global community that values sports as a means of self expression and the pursuit of excellence.”

High commissioner Skingle, who also said that she hoped the equipment would help encourage more people to take up sports, added that from sports we learn professionalism, dedication and competitiveness.

“We learn how to win and how to lose. Sports allow us to explore ourselves, to find the things that we are good at. They allow us to discover skills we never knew we had. They give us social skills and keep us healthy. Sports provide many role models. Sportsmen and women are rightly our heroes and heroines,” she noted.

Managing director Arnephy, for his part, said that the NSC appreciates the support and collaboration of the British High Commission towards the attainment of the sporting body’s different objectives.

He noted that the NSC is striving to develop, promote and sustain sporting skills development in Seychelles through its various programmes like Sports For All and Youth Sports Development.

Mr Arnephy noted that the NSC is trying its best to “make sports a way of life in Seychelles” and that the presentation of equipment has come at a good time, especially during the year 2005 declared by the United Nations as the year of ‘Sports and Physical Education’.

G. G.