Ministry of Sports gifted with 9,000 shorts and pickleball gear

Several sporting organisations and athletes throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), including those in schools, will be able to keep a little extra cash in their pockets this year as a result of a donation that has seen 9,000 sports shorts being handed over to the Ministry of Sports.

The donation also included pickleball sports gear with the intention of introducing the sport to SVG.

The 9,000 shorts, valued at approximately CD$90,000, were donated by former Consul General to SVG in Canada, Fitzgerald “Fitz” Huggins, during a ceremony on the tarmac of the decommissioned E.T Joshua Airport on Tuesday,October,7,2025. The cost of the pickleball gear was not disclosed.

Minister of Sports, Orando Brewster accepted the donations in the presence of Minister of Education, Curtis King.

Huggins explained that the shorts and pickleball gear were a donation to the government that he secured while he was Consul General in Toronto, Canada.

“It’s an opportune time for me to officially hand over these shorts to the Minister of Sports…it’s coming at a good time when they have a lot of competitions going on, and I know the Minister of Sports will definitely make good use of them and distribute to the appropriate teams around St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Huggins said He added that he expects more donations of this nature because of networking and friendships that were formed while he was Consul General.

“It’s probably the first time we’ve had such a big shipment…9,000 is a big number,” Brewster said. He pointed out that “…the coming sport called pickleball, which is a very vibrant sport in the US, and it is making a lot of rounds now but it’s…early stage and he (Fitz), was of the opinion that if St Vincent can get in on it very early, we can develop our talent so that we can showcase it to the world in the very near future”.

He said this first set of pickleball equipment will be used at the grassroot level and the schools, while Huggins’ son, Corey Huggins, has volunteered to help with the training of youngsters in relation to pickleball.

“So, I’m very grateful. I’m very thankful. And a lot of these items (shorts)…numerous different colours-we have blue, we have red, we have white, we have dark blue…people might see them as football shots…they can be multi-purpose shorts for different sports… we have enough that volleyball could get a little bit. You know, the colleges- as a matter of fact, today, I will be handing over to the college because they want to start their football this week, and they have requested a number of these shorts to be handed over to the college.” He noted that the Inter-Primary Schools netball competitions and the Inter-Secondary football competitions will benefit.

Education Minister King, said he is “greatly appreciative” of the donation as it is expensive outfitting schools with sports clothing.

“I just sponsored the uniforms for the Gomea Methodist School and I know it is challenging, but I’m happy because now they could get an extra kit in terms of the soccer shorts,” King said.

“And don’t forget also that we are promoting both male and female football, and so these shorts, would be of great help to the respective schools in my constituency.”