Infrastructural development continues at Brighton Technical Centre

Work has begun at the Brighton Playing Field, as the EC$ 750,000 Project rolls out that will see the facility being lit with 500 lux of lights.

Excavation of the trenches for the poles commenced earlier this week, under the supervision of NTech, the contracting firm responsible for the work at the facility.

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF),Carl Dickson who championed the project, is elated but also humbled by the fact that it is coming into fruition.

“It is indeed the dawn of brighter days for Football here in St Vincent and the Grenadines … The realization of providing lights at the Brighton Playing Field is just another manifestation and fulfilment of the promises I made to affiliates in 2019 when I sought to become the president of the organisation.“

He further commented that while over the years many had promised this initiative, he is pleased to have delivered.

Noting that work will go along at a steady pace, the SVGFF president disclosed that “All lighting implements are on the ground and logistics are in place to see the completion of, and commissioning of the lights in the next two months”.

When completed, the Brighton Playing Field will be about six and half times what exists at the Victoria Park at present.

The lighting of the facility is another phase in the overall enhancement of the Brighton Technical Centre.

In 2020, a special project that entailed an expenditure of $900,000 saw the fencing and upgrade of the playing surface.

The Brighton Playing Field and the adjoining Technical Centre is on an extended lease by the SVGFF from the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The lease sees the SVGFF having charge of the facility up to close to 2040. Work on the Technical Centre began in 2011 under the presidency of Venold Coombs.

The Technical Centre serves as a training facility and dormitory for national teams preparing for regional and international competitions.

Meanwhile, Dickson said that on the heels of the completion of lighting of the Brighton Playing Field, another project will soon see another phase of its realization implemented.

“My tenure in the sport has demonstrated a strong drive [and] commitment to break with traditional infrastructural barriers and looks forward to the commencement of the Home for Football Stadium, scheduled to break ground on May 1, 2024… Having already secured funding for phase one, I look forward to work diligently to make this exceptional goal a reality,” Dickson related.

The SVGFF president reiterated that under his guidance and astute leadership the SVGFF was able to tap into the FIFA Forward Programme, securing the EC$2.4 million to purchase the land for the project at Cane Grove.

“ I am one hundred percent certain that the SVGFF has a bright future under the lights at the Brighton Playing Field, and even brighter when the home for Football is finally materialized,” Dickson concluded.