On Saturday November 26th, the Collectivité hosted the Rights of the Child sports day at the Omni Sports Hall in Galisbay. Minister Jacobs as well as Mr. Alain Gros-Desormeaux, the Territorial Councilor of the French side were both in attendance.
Children of the Dutch and French side as well as Anguilla participated in the all-day event. Basketball and volleyball were played in the Omni Sports Hall, while tennis was held in Sandy Ground and soccer was played in French Quarter.
Minister Jacobs encouraged the children to play hard, strive to win with pride and lose with dignity. She congratulated the winners in advance and encouraged all participants to congratulate each other.
“It is the fundamental right of the child to play, and have fun as you grow and develop and I believe sports is one of the best ways in which [a child] can develop maturity, team spirit, discipline, even how to win and lose as it happens in every sport,” Minister Jacobs said.
The Minister added that more camaraderie needs to be promoted amongst the islands as the she welcomed the children from the island of Anguilla.
Minister Jacobs, along with the Mr. Alain Gros Desormeaux, Territorial Councilor, officially welcomed and opened the Rights of the Child sports day. The remainder of events for the Rights of the Child commemoration are: The Sharks Swim team Family Bike-a-Thon and Breakfast on December 3rd; the St. Maarten Promoting Young Ambassadors Movie Night on December 8th; ROC Christmas party on December 11th; ending with part two of the Youth Poetry evening on December 16th.