IAAF Donates to Schools

(ZIZ News) — The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is giving local athletic development a jump start with a donation to 10 primary schools in St. Kitts and Nevis.

In celebration of World Athletics Day, on Saturday, 10 kits containing equipment and tools used in the development of grassroots athletic programmes were handed over in a ceremony at the Kim Collins Athletic Stadium.

The donation marked the beginning of a pilot project called “Kids Athletics”.

President of the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletic Association, Glenville Jeffers thanked the IAAF for the donation, noting that the goal is not about serious training, but having fun and instilling a love for athletics in the students.

“We know it’s an expensive venture. At the same time we just want the kids to learn the sport of track and field in their respective schools and having fun. Remember coaches and teachers, we want the children to have fun. We don’t want to specialize as yet. We just want them to love the sport of track and field. And that’s what Kids Athletics does,” he said.

Timothy Morton, Track and Field Coordinator in the Ministry of Sport explained how the 10 schools were chosen.

“The schools were selected based on the performance in terms of track and field and the needs. There were schools where we thought that the track and field performance could be more developed and we selected the schools based on that,” he said.

The athletic kits are valued at USD$8000 each.