Culture and sports in Bermuda

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2: Good evening and welcome to our fifth town hall meeting. This is our first in the west and I'm sure you are wondering why we took so long to get here!

Tonight our topic is most important for the soothing of the human soul. Culture and sport make us the socialised beings that we are and we must do all we can to protect, promote and encourage both. Bermuda must invest in her people through culture.  Cultural history does not always make it into the formal records; it is history from the bottom up rather than from the top down. So what is culture?  Culture includes the arts, language, literature, dress, food music, family life, leisure activities, occupations, architecture, evens our politics - all areas of our lives. Culture truly reflects everyday life, the way we live.

Bermudians are facing problems of a magnitude never before seen in our island. Spiraling crime, national debt, the economy, tourism to name but a few.  These stormy times make it all the more vital for us to maintain connections with each other within and across generations.  It is vital that we have a sense of self, of identity that will help us weather these crises. It is vital that we look at ourselves and see one people - Bermudians. Where we have lost touch, we must reconnect for it is only by supporting each other that we will emerge from these times a stronger, more determined people set on moving our country forward with a will forged out of uncertainty.

During his recent visit to Bermuda Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis spoke to  cultural heritage by stating  that the older generations have “dropped the ball” in not passing traditions and customs on to the younger generations. This is not unique to St Kitts-Nevis or Bermuda. It is a problem in many communities across the world, especially the more developed countries.

Our cultural survival depends on adults making time to give our children a foundation in our culture. Many of our youth do not know what is expected of them, what they should do, what is taboo. If however cultural principles are passed on, even though young people may stray for a time they will have the reference points to find their way back.

Culture is dynamic, it is not static. It moves, lives, breathes, yes and in some instances, hides. But it never dies. It has been said that you can’t kill culture. It may not always be recognisable to us, but it’s there. Explore and understand how our customs have changed and are changing and the stress this puts on intergenerational relationships.

Whose culture is it? Bermuda’s culture is our culture! Let’s celebrate our diversity. Let’s build on our diversity. Let’s learn from our diversity. Let’s make sure our diversity enriches our lives.

Arts feed the soul. They open up possibilities, give us dreams, hope, faith, a sense of self-pride and skills to apply to life. Arts also draw on real life to enhance performance. Arts can ignite our passions and cause us to be compassionate.

When underfunded this says that we think of the arts as just entertainment only. As leader of the PLP Government, I will provide greater financial support for the Bermuda Arts Council specifically to support, promote and encourage authors to write fiction as well as non-fiction, and to increase support to a variety of artists in general.

Our musicians must feel that they are appreciated and respected. The debate over how much local music can be played over the air must end with a dramatic increase in the quantity of music produced. This can and must be done. The issue of are our musicians good enough to entertain in the hotels must be put to rest with a decision being made to place Bermudian musicians first and not wavering from such a policy. Our people must be given first place if we are to fully develop our talent and if the tourist is to experience Bermuda culture.

Libraries are places where arts, culture, education meet. Librarians are the custodians of a rich cultural heritage as well as providers of current information. The Bermuda National Library holds and cares for an important collection of Bermuda’s history in print and non-print format. While the building at Par-la-Ville is historically significant and centrally located, we must invest in a facility that meets the requirements of 21st century Bermuda and caters to the needs of adults, young adults and children.

This I shall seek to do in partnership with the business community as a shared valued icon. Both the adult library and the youth library have reached full capacity. As space is at a premium, we must make more use of technology to enhance the collections and the services. E.g. e-books and magazines, digitize the local newspaper holdings which date back to 1784.

As a country it is important for us to uphold those persons who have made lasting contributions which have improved our standard of living; encouraged us to expand our thinking and change our view of the world and of Bermuda. Heroes provide examples of good citizens are role models for all and must excite the aspirations of youth. Heroes are a source of pride. National Heroes day has considerable merit but needs re-energizing. There is need to raise public interest. Solicit nominations for hero from the public. We can organize public interest programs around the personality utilizing CITV.

Turning to sports, I believe that success in the sporting arena can quickly lift the spirits of the nation and build national pride. Under my administration we will better organize Government's support for sport so as to assist our athletes to rise to great heights.

To start with we will create a Government database of all athletes representing Bermuda both locally and internationally. This database will contain information about the athletes, the clubs, and the sporting bodies. The information about the athlete will include her Bermuda and world ranking as well as the names of her coaches. The club information should include a compressive list of qualified coaches as well as a comprehensive list of camps and programs run each year.  The use of the database will assist in identifying athletes to be sponsored as well as showing the areas of weakness that need to be eliminated.

We will enforce compliance for all government funded sporting bodies.  This will include compliance with drug testing bodies as all sporting bodies will be required to meet the requirements of the drug free sport criteria. We will ensure that clubs and sporting bodies are legally complaint before any funding is offered. This will include compliance with government's financial regulation as well as those of the international bodies of each sport. Once in compliance, Government funding programs can be activated.

We will support the development and preparation of our athletes for the 2012 Olympics. Working with the Bermuda Olympic Association to determine which athletes provide our best hopes for success in London 2012, we will approve funding for those athletes who have met international standards twelve months in advance to allow for proper preparation. We will also work with Windreach Recreational Village to determine the proper allocation of funds to prepare athletes for the 2012 Paralympics Games.

My administration will re-examine the allocation of sports funding, including that of our two national sports, in light of the needs and success of other sports. International excellence has been achieved in Track and Field, Swimming, Tennis and Golf. Names such as Tyrone Smith, Keira Aitken and Tyler Smith to name but a few immediately spring to mind. Thus young athletes in these sports must be properly funded in addition to the two national sports.  Again, working with the BOA, we will facilitate funding and support for our senior world class athletes.

My administration will continue to support our two national sports though the before mentioned funding review will see some reallocations. We will expect our athletes in our two national sports to carry themselves at a high standard and to be willing to make themselves available for national duty so that we can be represented by our best possible team whenever we play. As funds are somewhat restricted we will expect that those receiving funds will give their very best on the sports field. 

The Bermuda School Sport Federation will be reviewed with a view to ensuring that competitive sport at middle school and senior school level ties to the programs of the various sporting bodies. The Federation will have sufficient funding to carry out its mandate and to ensure that our school age athletes have quality inter school competitions. 

Funding for the National Sport Center Aquatic Center will continue. Upon completion we will bid to host Carifta Swimming Championships. The completed Aquatic Center will also assist in our sports tourism efforts.

Sports Tourism must be developed to encourage teams and their supporters to come to Bermuda. Many professional teams have pre season training at offshore locations as well as end of season trips as a reward.  I'm sure many of us can remember back to Clyde Best playing at the National Stadium in a West Ham versus Manchester United match. What a treat for us, what a holiday for the great players of those two fine teams.  These training (or exhibition) exercises need training facilities, dedicated transport arrangements, group housing, catering. Bermuda can meet these needs and should encourage sports tourism entrepreneurs to bid on any tendered projects.

These endeavours should be joint efforts between the Sports and Tourism Ministries as the goals should include bringing tourists and giving Bermuda athletes an opportunity to impress overseas teams.

The teams should be both professional and college. In fact, the presence of University teams can be used to soften the loss of College Weeks. The students coming with the teams can be encouraged by their stay to actually come at their own expense when they become working adults. 

Ladies and gentlemen, Bermuda is rich in its cultural and sporting traditions. We must encourage and fund our artists and athletes so that they can soar to the levels that their God given talents will carry them. And we will be able to say with pride" he's from Bermuda, you know".

Thank you.