The NOC in celebratory mode

It is not very often that an organisation gets an opportunity to celebrate several anniversaries all at once. The St Vincent and the Grenadines National Olympic Committee, SVGNOC, however has found itself in this enviable position.

The year 2007 is an important year in the life of the organisation. It marks the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the SVGNOC, the 20th Anniversary of the organisation's affiliation to the International Olympic Committee, IOC, and the 15th Aniversary of the founding of the National Olympic Academy, NOA, the organisation's educational arm.

NOC Establishment

St Vincent and the Grenadines has always produced good athletes and in a variety of sports, many of whom have attained relatively high levels of excellence on the field of competition, leaving their mark on the sporting history of this country. Unfortunately however, the world's most prestigious sporting spectacle, the Olympic Games, did not see our involvement for decades.

In 1958, the athletics association here at the time was invited to attend and participate in the quadrennial British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games), in Cardiff, Wales. That was this country's first ever involvement in an official international multi-sport Games. The country did not have a formal multisport organisation and the Commonwealth Games Federation, CGF, was prepared to recognise the athletics governing body until such time as the country developed a multisport organisation such as the National Olympic Committee which would then also serve as the nation's Commonwealth Games Association.