Good morning, and thank you for the warm welcome! I bring greetings from Ambassador Holloway, who wanted to be here with you himself, but unfortunately he is away from Georgetown.
First of all, many thanks to Minister Henry and the National Sports Commission for allowing all of us to use the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall this morning. Thank you to Christopher Jones and your colleagues at the Sports Commission for bringing all of us together today. And to the media, welcome, thank you for being here.
I’m so pleased to see so many energetic young people here today! Who is from Georgetown? Good, and who is here from Berbice? From Linden?
Welcome all! You are in for a special treat today. We have three special visitors all the way from America, and though they have very different jobs, they all have one thing in common: BASKETBALL.
The American Embassy is very pleased to be able to make this event possible. You may be asking yourself, what do sports have to do with diplomacy? Quite a lot more than you may imagine. When we play team sports, we learn the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, learning from mistakes, respect for rules and authority, perseverance, how to win gracefully, and how to lose with dignity. These lessons go far beyond the playing field. Indeed, sports are among the best tools we have today to help children and young people develop positive character traits and life values.
Without further ado, please join me in giving a warm welcome to Coach Agnus Berenato; Associate Coach Elvis Valcarcel; and NBA Representative Allison Feaster )!
