Brison to implement high school Athletics Association once re-elected to office

SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - Rolando Brison, Former President of Parliament and the #5 Candidate on the United People’s Party Slate, has announced that he is endorsing a High School Athletics Association, which will give students in secondary schools easier access to international Academic Scholarships through sports, and a platform to enter professional sport.

“The idea behind this proposal, is to ensure that students have a very practical and effective way to involve themselves in sports, and the association will also have direct ties to international collegiate programs such as the NCAA, HBCU and other prestigious college recruiting programs in the varied sports,” Brison said. 

Brison applauded the local sporting organizations, which have been singlehandedly trying to create opportunities for secondary school athletes, so they can access Collegiate sporting scholarships to further their tertiary education. 

“I want to applaud our local sporting organizations who have taken the initiative and first steps to create these platforms for our students and create opportunities for many of them who have gone on to represent the island on an international stage. However, having a government funded and Parliamentary endorsed Athletics program integrated into our high curriculum, will really promote sports from the most crucial period of a student’s life, which will give them the opportunity to access academic scholarships and the possibility to enter professional sports, will become a reality for St. Maarten in a very structured and accessible way.”

Brison, who has been laying the foundation for this project explained that this program will ensure that students are properly prepared and equipped to be eligible to qualify for academic scholarships and programs which have rigorous and strict requirement.

“We have several students who are gifted and highly skilled in various sports, but lack the guidance and support needed to prepare them to meet the required international standards, by implementing this program, safeguards will be put in place to provide a holistic approach to preparing our students.”

He further stated that there are several benefits to be had from supporting this initiative, like: Sports Tourism, which will attract international athletes, scouting coaches and professional training teams to our shores. “This will bring revenue to our tourism sector like our hotels, taxis, restaurants, stores just to name a few,” Brison said. “So, in essence, the High School Sports Athletic Association will be pumping back money into our economy whilst providing opportunities for our youth and positively highlighting St. Maarten to the world.”

 Another major benefit of this Athletics Program will be engaging our youth positively. “By getting our youngsters involved in this program at this impressionable age, we will be redirecting their focus and energy into something positive and fulfilling,” Brison explained. “This in turns keeps them active and away from negative and disruptive behavior, thereby minimizing the increase in youth violence, bullying, and disruptive behavior amongst our youth.” 

Brison said his hope is that once re-elected to office, he will be implementing this association which will showcase and foster our local talent, and open the door for our youths to explore other less popular sport like gymnastics, golf, badminton, track and field etc.

When asked how the program will be funded, Brison explained that between cost of living and taxes now, it would be unfair to burden parents with additional costs, so he would recommend that 1cent be deducted from the Gasoline Excise.

According to Brison, most of his efforts as a legislator has been to establish programs and legislation geared at the working class and the elderly, like the recent proposal to offer tax free pension payments to the elderly, increase the minimum wage.