The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ON the platform of bringing nations together to share in the common ideas and values of Olympism, the Bahamas and Guatemala Olympic committees on Friday signed its first memorandum of understanding between organisations in the Central American region.

“Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind,” said Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Rommel Knowles, who signed on behalf of president Wellington Miller, who was off the island.

“Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

“Our goal in the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

Knowles said the BOC is motivated and inspired to build a better world through sports and the signing signals their determination to building the Bahamas through sports.

On hand to sign the agreement was Gerardo Aguirre Oestmann, president of the Guatemala Olympic Committee (GOC). He was accompanied by Dr Neville Stiles, the director of international affairs. Joining Knowles were BOC first vice presidents Cora Hepburn, Clarence Rolle and Robert Butler.

Among the objectives of the agreement are:

• Science and Technology - physical preparation, applied science, physical tests, sport psychology and physiology

• Sports medicine - general body strengthening, injury prevention, pre- and post-operation physiotherapy

Sport exchanges - participation of teams, athletes and coaches from each country for competition, training programmes or competitions.

• Technical exchange - workshops, courses. postgraduate programmes, seminars, management counselling, imparted by specialists and professionals, the projective of which is to encourage mutual training and exchange of experience

• Donation of sports implements and equipment

• Promotion of sport for people with disabilities; technical exchange to undertake training of specialists

• Women in sports

Oestmann said it’s a timely agreement and that they hope to forge a closer relationship with the Bahamas.

“With this agreement, we are going to develop Olympic values, looking for the excellence of all of our athletes from both countries and to develop and to increase the friendship of our countries,” he said. “It will be a real pleasure to increase the relationship and to develop the opportunities for our athletes from both countries.”

And Stiles added that it doesn’t matter about the size of the population or the country but rather about the betterment of the people and sport in general.

“Apart from that, which is much bigger, is the peace and tranquility of our nations which is, above all, what everyone wants,” he said. “So through sports, that is one of the major ways in which we can try to work to maintain a peaceful society wherever we go. I think the relationships and bonds that we can develop is vital and it’s a job that we should all be interested in supporting, even if we are not sportsmen.

“What we are doing today is taking another step to producing that peaceful society and to produce a relationship that we need through sports.”

Hepburn, who is responsible for women in sports in the BOC, said as a banker by profession, she has seen a memorandum of understanding between companies, so this is a positive step for the BOC and the GOC as they look forward to an exchange between the two countries.

While there were some preliminary talks between the countries, Knowles said as soon as Oestmann and Stiles return from their trip to Germany, they will have an opportunity to further discuss in more detail a number of aspects, including the Urban Games and to also forge a relationship with Canada, which currently has a vibrant programme.