CUBA AND THE UK REINFORCE SPORTING LINKS
9th May 2002by ROB BURGESS
TOP CUBAN SPORTS officials touched down in Britain last week to meet with UK Sport and a number of other organisations to discuss improving sporting links between the two countries.
Richard Callicott, UK Sport’s Chief Executive, met with Humberto Rodriguez Gonzalez, the Cuban Minister for Sport and his UK equivalent - Richard Caborn MP - at the Department for Media, Culture and Sport in London.
Both parties agreed that closer bilateral ties between the UK and Cuba should be developed – a process UK Sport will now drive in partnership with the Cuban Government and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
“It was very encouraging to meet with the Cuban delegation,” said Callicott. “We identified many areas of potential co-operation between the two countries where we can share expertise and learn from each other’s sporting systems.
“UK Sport will now look to develop a sporting understanding with Cuba – an agreement that will outline the specific areas of co-operation and cement the positive relationship we already enjoy.”
High-performance sport was one area discussed in detail with Ciro Perez Hebra, Director of International Relations at the Cuban National Sports Institute, keen to work closely with the UK Sports Institute on issues such as elite coach development, talent identification schemes and athlete preparation and planning.
THE CUBAN PARTY also met with representatives from UK Athletics, Baseball Softball UK, Bisham Abbey and the Football Association (F.A.) during their five-day visit. Perhaps best known for its baseball prowess, football is now one of the fastest growing sports on the Caribbean island.
“We have two million children in our schools and 30,000 PE teachers,” explained Mr Rodriguez. “We have football in all our schools but we really need to work at the grassroots level in order to improve the game and get better results.”
The F.A. – which currently has a co-operation agreement with CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American & the Caribbean Association Football), organising coaching, refereeing and administration courses for CONCACAF member associations at the Centre of Excellence in Trinidad - announced last week that a coaching course will be organised in October in Havana in partnership with the British Embassy in Cuba.