Developing and increasing participation in the game was at the heart of the contribution by Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith when he attended the National Secondary Schools scrabble competition held at St Augustine Girls High School last weekend.
The popular board game is a fixture in many households and was introduced to local schools in a competitive format 27 years ago. Like chess, Scrabble can significantly enhance critical thinking skills with the added bonus of enhancing vocabulary among young people, as evidenced by the high turnout of schools at the tournament.
There was competition in two categories: seniors (15+) and juniors (14+) at which 78 students representing 26 schools participated.
At a press briefing at the ministry’s office, Smith described the reaction to his visit “as though it was David Beckham had visited them,” as no minister of sport had ever visited them before.
Soon after presenting travel tickets to members of the national Sambo team that is competing at the Sambo World Championship in Casablanca, Morocco, Smith told the media his ministry would reach out to all sports.
“Once you are honest and compliant, you will be assisted by the ministry,” Smith said. His visit was not only an eye-opener to the scrabble fraternity but also broke a 30-year period in which the T&T Scrabble Association (TTSA) has been in existence and has not been visited by any sports minister.
In recent times the two more popular sports in the country, football and cricket, appear to have been the main sports in the country. However Smith reminded the media that “not everyone can play football or cricket.”
President of the T&T Scrabble Association (TTSA) Compton Welch believes the Minister’s presence lent credibility and prestige to the event as he claimed no previous minister had ever shown such a high level of interest in the game.
Welch also indicated that his association planned to build on the ministry’s interest by hosting a Caribbean tournament in 2016 and an international tournament soon thereafter.
According to Welch: “Our priorities also include increased participation among primary schools and coaching support for schools in rural areas.”
Minister Smith also asked for increased participation at the Primary and Secondary School levels. He revealed that from all the sporting disciplines in T&T there were 13 involved at those levels. He said improving this was critical if there was to be development and continuity.
Meanwhile, the overall Juniors prize went to St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph and the Seniors title was taken by Fatima College. A number of individual prizes were also handed out in the junior and senior categories, as well as the highest game score in each category.
WALTER ALIBEY