Douglas Camacho, chairman of the Sport Company of T&T (SporTT) said most of the sporting facilities under his purview are ready for the return of national athletes to training.
Last month, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as part of his regular COVID-19 updates stated that sporting activities will be able to return on Monday, and less than a week away from the said date, Camacho said that SporTT had done all necessary work at the respective facilities following the Ministry of Health protocols to ensure a safe return to sports for all athletes, inclusive of being sanitised.
Among the venues set to reopen after being closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic are the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain; Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima; Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella; Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, as well as the National Aquatic Centre and National Cycling Velodrome, both in Couva.
However, two major facilities, the entire Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (ERISA) in Tacarigua, as well as the Home of Football in Couva, will both remain close as they are being used by the Ministry of Health as step-down centres in the fight against COVID-19.
Asked to give an update on the readiness of the facilities for Monday expected to reopen of sporting facilities, Camacho said, "Once we are giving the decision to allow sporting recreational activities in a more structured way, our position to NGBs is that we will allow first national athletes in training.
"So national athletes should be able to access the facilities and for each facility, we will have very specific protocols in place.
"Obviously two of them, the National Racket Centre, Tacarigua and Home of Football, are off-limits because they are step-down facilities in the COVID-19 response, so obviously those we will have to exclude them for now, but all the other sporting venues should be ready.
"We have already put in place what the protocols are and we have developed it and we have had conversations and discussions with the Ministry of Finance. It is in accordance with the Ministry of Health protocols, and we have been putting all the necessary infrastructure where needed like putting in all the sinks and sanitising stations.
Looking towards the reopening of the venues, Camacho said the schedules for use of the venues are going to be very structured so that when the athletes need to train, their respective NGBs will need to let us know at the respective facilities with the names of athletes, the number of athletes as well as time frame so we don't run afoul of the protocols.
"Whether it's in groups of five or tens or whatever the figure is allowed according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, they will have to inform us," said the former T&T Olympic Committee boss.
Asked what has been the response from the NGBs with the anticipated date for the resumption of sports less than a week away, Camacho said, "We have received requests from a few and we are just awaiting the sign off on given them the all-clear.
"We have told them that our intention to resume from the June 22 and other than to make an application once the go-ahead is given they will be accommodated in accordance with the protocols that have been established.
He noted that not all sporting bodies fall under the control of the Sport Company and that he was mainly speaking about the 15 sporting disciplines that fall under their responsibility like hockey, tennis, track & field, swimming and badminton
"We are responsible for 15 and those are the ones we have been reaching out to and I'm sure that the Ministry of Sports probably reaching out to the 0ther 45-plus organisations, but SporTT itself, we only have interaction mainly with 15 and those are the ones we have been reaching out to and many of them have sent back in their request.
With regards to the entire Tacarigua facility which houses the National Racket Centre and ERISA, Camacho said, "That facility is completely off-limit until it is no longer a step-down centre, and I can't really see that much happening before the beginning of 2021."
This means that the sports of badminton, volleyball, table-tennis, lawn tennis and hockey will all have one less venue to work with when they do resume activities from Monday.
But according to Camacho, these sports like hockey, for example, will still be able to continue elsewhere.
He said, "The hockey turf in Tacarigua is off-limits, but there are grass fields they can use as well as the indoor facilities. The first tournament they (hockey) will probably have to go into the qualifier for the FIH Indoor World Championship, the Pan American Indoor Cup qualifiers, so this may work in their favour.
<On the astroturf>
Commenting on the yet to be completed relaying of the astroturf hockey surface at Tacarigua, Camacho, who is also the president of the T&T Hockey Board, said they have been in constant contact with the company in Germany which is responsible for completing the job.
"We are just waiting on the confirmation of the international borders to be reopened. And from the recent comments of the Chief Medical Officer earlier this week it suggests that could be at the back end of this year.
And according to him if the countries that people are coming from have high cases of the COVID-19 virus, they are not going to be allowed in.
"It's all kind of permutations playing out and personally, I am in full support of his decision because we have made the sacrifices and continue to do so and it would seem to me as a member of the public that this is the country that has probably handled the COVID-19 virus the best in the world, and I would hate to see that go down the drain for a handful of people or a few selfish motives."