News

As part of her initiative to revive sporting activities in the city, and to spearhead sporting tourism in Dominica, Member of Parliament for the Roseau Central Constituency, Hon. Melissa Skerrit received a donation of lawn tennis equipment on Friday, March 11 2022.

The donation was made by two Dominicans brothers, who reside in the diaspora, Mr. Avandale Paul and Mr. Lloyd Paul, to assist in the development of sports tourism in the city.

This donation of tennis equipment is one in a string of donations made by the Paul brothers as part of their contribution as citizens to the country’s continued development.

Vice president of the Dominica Tennis Association Mr. Andrew Carter expressed his thanks to the Paul brothers for this donation on behalf of the association. He noted that with this gesture, he hopes to see a greater form of enthusiasm towards tennis in Dominica.

“It is a very momentous occasion to receive some tennis equipment from Mr. Llyod Paul and his brother Avandale Paul who has chosen to make a donation. They have made contributions before in sports and it is very nice of them to think of tennis. Tennis is a game I hold dearly to my heart as the Vice President of the Dominica Tennis Association; and I know that our President Mr. Dave Baron and the members of our Executive Board will be very pleased for this batch of tennis equipment. It is really a wonderful gesture and I can only hope that with this injection of equipment into the tennis world we will see a greater enthusiasm for the sport of tennis,” Mr. Carter stated.

 Representative of the Mr. Lloyd Paul stated that he and his brother are delighted to be able to donate this equipment to Dominica. He noted that sports continues to play an important role in the development of young people and the country as a whole.

“We all know that sports in its entirety has played a very important role in our lives; whether you are a sportsman or sportswoman yourself or whether you are a supporter of sports, sports has impacted you. So it is this spirit that my brother and I, after having several discussions, have decided to make our contributions to our country which is well on its way in terms of sports,” Mr. Paul noted.

He went on to say that he has “listened to the passionate plea of our Roseau Central Parl Rep, I have listened to the Ministry of Sports and Minister Paul and we couldn’t be left out of that, because as responsible citizens that is what we have to do.”

Mr. Paul added that he and his brother reached out to numerous sponsors to assist with this donation and will continue to do so for the development of sports in Dominica.

“We are in constant motion, we are networking, we are calling, we are looking for international sports organizers and our country clubs to donate and to help us with sporting activities for our young people. I am sure like, most of us want to see our young people, whether they are from Grand Bay, Vielle Case, Calibishie or Roseau Central, we want to see them at some international sporting event representing our wonderful and beautiful island of Dominica. And it is with this spirit that we have decided to put our best foot forward and not just sit back and criticize,” Mr. Paul added.

Member of Parliament for the Roseau Central Constituency, Hon. Melissa Skerrit state that she is extremely grateful for this gesture.

“I am so happy and thankful that someone heard the plea that I put forth and my intention and the passion that I have to develop sports in Roseau. I have spoken about the sports revolution since becoming a Parl Rep and it is something that I personally am passionate about; because I see the effects it has on our young people as well as our guys on the block and even our adults. But when I put this plea out I really did not anticipate this. I really did not anticipate that people would be listening and would be wanting to do something about it. So when I got the call from Mr. Paul I was thankful and I told him that I was grateful and we should do it more often,” the Roseau Central MP noted.

Hon. Skerrit added that this is a huge step in the revival of lawn tennis in the city and in Dominica.

“This may seem small like a small gesture but the effects and the impacts of this donation is going to be far and wide reaching. This is going to be the start of the sports tourism in Roseau Central. This is also going to jump start the sports revolution that I speak about. And as you have seen we have done our basketball, we have done netball; but while we have our tennis courts we have not reached there yet. But now we are going to give some true attention to our tennis court and bring back tennis to Roseau Central. So i am very happy about this. I know that it will go a long way and as I’ve said to our youth and to our people in the city, we can go far with sports,” Hon. Skerrit further stated.