Adwuelle Wright praises THA Sport Development Fund

The Division of Sport and Youth Affairs hosted national men’s long jump record holder Adwuelle Wright at a press conference on Tuesday July 16, 2019. Present at the event was Annette Knott, Chairman of the LaLonde Gordon Sport Development Fund (LGSDF) of which Wright is a long-standing beneficiary. The conference comes on the heels of his gold medal and Olympic qualifying performance at the 2019 NACAC Under 23 Championships earlier this month in Mexico.

The LGSDF is an initiative of the Tobago House of Assembly and was conceptualised after local track and field athlete LaLonde Gordon took home bronze at the 2012 Olympics. The fund began operating in 2015 and aims to provide key support to developing athletes, particularly those based in Tobago.

From left to right: (Front to back) The Division’s Technical Director of Sport Mrs. Lyndell Hoyte-Sanchez, Coach Wendell Williams, Track and field athlete Andwuelle Wright, Chairman of the LaLonde Gordon Sport Development Fund (LGSDF) Annette Knott, Treasurer Annette Williams, Legal advisor Donna Wallace, Secretary of the NAAA TT Dexter Voisin, Tobago representative of the NAAA TT Durley Lucas and Administrator of the Division Ms. Jacqueline Job pose for a group photo following a press conference on Tuesday July 16, at the Division’s head office in Scarborough. The press conference focused on highlighting Andwuelle’s recent achievements at the NACAC Under 18 and Under 23 Championships in Mexico, in addition to providing updates on the LGSDF, of which Andwuelle is a beneficiary.

During his remarks Andwuelle shared, “It’s a pleasure working with the LaLonde Gordon fund. It has really helped me in my travels. It also helps me to study; I’m actually doing a course in the ACCA Charted Accounting. The fund has helped me greatly, so that I can progress as an athlete and break records. I look forward to the years to come.” He was accompanied by his coach Wendell Williams and the Secretary of the National Association of Athletics Administration of Trinidad and Tobago (NAAA TT); Dexter Voisin.

Williams, a former national record holder himself, noted, “For me, I would endorse the fund for others. For me this fund has helped us tremendously to improve on Andwuelle’s distances. He has now stepped into the area where he can make more progress. The weight of distance is off his shoulders, as is the weight of having to think about where the next financial support is coming from. There will be more to come from Andwuelle.”

Knott took the opportunity to encourage athletes to access the Fund, “The purpose of this conference is to let all national athletes in Tobago know, that there is no reason why they shouldn’t be applying to the fund. The main criteria is that you need to be a national athlete.” To apply for funding or gain more information the sporting community can contact 612-DSYA (3792) ext. 1029.