St Kitts/Nevis prepares for Carifta 2008

It has often been said that size really does not matter. The submission of a Bid by the Turks and Caicos Amateur Athletics Association to host the 36th edition of the Annual Carifta Games on Providenciales in 2007 was a rather welcome surprise by the athletics fraternity in the Caribbean. But just as some thought that it would have been a challenge for the nation with a mere 25,000 people should dare suggest that it could host the prestigious event, the Amateur Athletics Association of St Kitts and Nevis, SKNAAA, came forward.

It was in 2005 that St Kitts and Nevis Amateur Athletics Association chose the Carifta Congress in Tobago to submit a formal Bid to host the 37th edition of the annual Carifta Games in 2008.At the time of the submission of the Bid the leadership of the organisation used a cell phone to have the Minister of Sport at the time affirm his Government’s commitment to the decision of the SKNAAA. The cell phone was placed near the microphone being used at the top table for the Congress and everyone in attendance heard the commitment of the Government, not just to the hosting of the event but also to the delivery of a most successful Carifta Games in 2008.At the end of the Bidding process the Carifta Congress gave the nod to the SKNAAA, to become yet another first time host of the Carifta Games.
Of course the Government of St Kitts and Nevis must be duly commended for the many years of firm commitment to sport in general and athletics in particular and this even before the current administration took office. Athletics and the Olympic Movement in the Federation can proudly boast of their longstanding relationship with the Government of the day and the latter’s readiness to make available the requisite resources in keeping with its capabilities.
The eagerness of the then Minister of Sport of St Kitts and Nevis to declare his government’s unflinching support to the SKNAAA’s Bid for the Carifta Games 2008 came as no surprise to those who have been following developments in the Federation.