Grenada Today - The National Newspaper of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique

The Ministry of Sport is said to be conducting an audit to determine the amount of items and equipment stolen from playing facilities around the island in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan in September.

This was disclosed by Sports Minister Adrian Mitchell during a handing over ceremony of cricket gears to the ministry by former West Indies Cricket Board of Control (WICB) member and Certified Instructor and Coach of the Barbados Team, William Bourne.

The presentation was held at the Tourism conference room in the Ministerial Complex building at the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday.
Bourne, who is the owner of Sports Connection in Barbados has worked in the past with the local Ministry of Sport and was coach of the Grenada team during the 1990's.

Minister Mitchell told the presentation ceremony that his ministry had suffered immensely in the aftermath of the hurricane since all of the sporting equipment along with other items were stolen. He could not say how much it will cost to replace those items because an inventory was only conducted at the Tanteen Sporting Complex while other places including the devastated Queen's Park National Stadium are still to be done.

According to the Sport Minister, even the uniforms belonging to the Grenada Carifta Team were not speared by looters. Sen. Mitchell thanked Bourne for what he described as a timely donation and for the overall help given to Grenada by Barbados in the aftermath of the hurricane. He promised that the items will be put to good use by the young cricketers and also used the occasion to appeal for assistance in the area of coaching for players.

In making the presentation, Bourne gave assurances that this will not be the last donation Grenada will receive from him. He promised to help in what ever way possible since his aim is to help the country return to the position it was before the passage of Ivan. The former WICB member said that Grenada can expect to benefit from his coaching experiences so that more youngsters can be selected to the West Indies team.

Some of the items handed over to Grenada were given to Bourne by one of his business partners Dunlop, a sports company based in London, England as a result of an appeal he made for help for Grenada. The items, valued at $US1,000.00 include bats, gloves, wickets and kits.

The package will be given to the Combined Secondary Schools on the island for their participation in the Sir Garfield Sobers limited overs tournament later this year in Barbados.