(Stock Photo)

(Stock Photo)

Barbados has the potential to produce the next Tiger Woods. However, it is important that the sport be seen as beneficial to developing discipline, self-esteem and self-confidence in children while also sharpening their social skills.

Minister of Culture, Sports And Youth, Stephen Lashley, expressed these sentiments yesterday as he delivered the welcome remarks at the opening ceremony of the 29th Annual Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships held at Barbados Beach Club Hotel, Maxwell, Christ Church.

According to the Sports Minister, “children have many choices today; and for golf to be an attractive alternative it needs to be seen as a safe, well-organised, well-structured and professionally run sport.”

While speaking to the members of nine teams who came to Barbados to represent their countries in the junior golf championships, Minister Lashley noted the importance of sports in society.

“Sports play an important role in the development of our young people and in fact it can be the basis on which an individual can engage in healthy living and can also provide avenues for channeling the energies of our youthful population. Sports build character and at the same time may expand the career paths available as sports is no longer viewed as just a recreational activity, but rather a multifaceted way of life,” he noted.

Mr. Lashley expressed the view that a wider cross section of youth needed to be given more access to golf facilities. According to the Sports Minister, more access would ensure an even larger pool of potential international golf champions.

Some 89 young golfers from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks & Caicos, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic will compete over the next three days in the Championships being held at the Barbados Golf Club, Durants Christ Church.

jamal.weekes@barbados.gov.bb

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