On Monday, nine sports federations received various donations that will help develop their respective sports.

 

The donations are part of the Olympic Solidarity programme within the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (SOCGA), which provides funding to local sports federations.

 

The donation was made during a short ceremony at the Olympic House, Roche Caiman. After the federations have purchased their equipment, the event serves as a symbolic gesture, and the SOCGA officially hands over the equipment.

 

“I am sure that all the federations present here today will make good use of the equipment they have received,” said Antonio Gopal, the President of SOCGA, after presenting the federations with the donation.

 

In all, nine sports have benefitted: Judo, Handball, Volleyball, Football, Table Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Cycling and Karate.

 

For Judo, they received a laptop and several kimonos, which will be worn by their athletes, totalling Rs56,197.

 

“We received a laptop, as we had identified it as something we really needed, especially when it comes to administrative work,” said the Chairman of the Seychelles Judo Federation, Sandra Mathiot, adding that the set of Kimonos is essential to the sport, especially given its unavailability in Seychelles and the cost to import them.

 

For volleyball, they received a donation of Rs8,120, which included a printer, signal flags, and storage bags.

 

“For us, this is additional support that we really appreciate, where these are mainly the things that despite planning, we then realise that it is needed, and so it helps up out a lot as we help our teams and athletes,” said the vice-chairperson of the Seychelles Volleyball Federation, Elsia Vidot.

 

In table tennis, Rs37,376 was spent on bats, rubber, and shoes, which will be used throughout the year for training and competition.

 

“We took the opportunity to replenish our stock, especially where it concerns the rubbers that are used on the bats,” explained Yannick Nicette, the chairman of the Seychelles Table Tennis Federation.

 

He added that the rubbers wear out easily, and players have to replace them almost quarterly.

 

Badminton is also a federation that has benefited from this donation, and their equipment is geared more toward Air badminton, worth up to Rs39,088.

 

“Air Badminton is new to Seychelles, where it is played outdoors rather than inside an arena, but we need to start preparing for it, as it will be included in the next Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG), said a representative from the federation.

 

Other sports that have benefitted from these donations are Handball, which bought scoreboards, referee cards, handball nets, a stopwatch, and a hand grip for Rs29,330; the Seychelles Football Federation received a video worth Rs49,870; and Squash, which received strings, shoes, balls, and grips worth Rs30,088.

 

Cycling were presented with medals and also a new timer worth Rs11,131, which will accurately time finishes, especially close ones, to ensure the correct winner of races, and finally the Karate federation was presented with kimonos and belts, totalling Rs29,355.