The not for profit organisation, Sacred Sports Foundation, will hold an international conference on sport and social development in Castries, Saint Lucia, from the 10th-14th June.

The ‘Sport in Black and White’ Conference and Youth Forum aims to highlight and discuss topics regarding the use of physical education and sport in promoting social inclusion, eradicating poverty and reducing crime and violence, whilst exploring key approaches to youth development.

The event will bring together for the first time in the Caribbean leaders across sport and youth development to tackle and debate this wide range of issues.

The president of the Saint Lucia National Youth Council, Timothy Ferdinand, who will present a paper at the conference explained,

"Young people today are faced with a range of social problems and challenges, and I believe this conference will be an important opportunity to look at our approaches to youth engagement and youth development through sport in Saint Lucia, and how we can make these initiatives sustainable”.

CARICOM (Caribbean Community Secretariat), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Alliance for Youth Sports (IAYS), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP), European football’s anti-discrimination campaign, the FARE Network and the Caribbean Sports Development Agency (CSDA) will also be key contributors to the conference.

Sacred Sports Foundation hopes to turn the event into an annual forum for the Caribbean to help recognise and share good practices involving sport and young people.

Youth Forum and other initiatives

Alongside the conference, additional activities will also take place in Castries between the 10th-23rd June, involving the Saint Lucia Football Association, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, the Professional Footballers Association and the League Managers Association in the UK. This will include the first US college scholarship showcase in the region, a football tournament and coaching certification courses.

The Youth Forum will take place between the 12th-19th June and will focus on the challenges faced by young people in the Caribbean including the region’s high incident rates of youth crime and youth unemployment.