Sport and Youth Af­fairs Min­is­ter Phillip Watts has called on young ath­letes to stay dis­ci­plined as they con­tin­ue their de­vel­op­ment both on and off the court.

Speak­ing at the clos­ing cer­e­mo­ny of the South-Cen­tral Bas­ket­ball "Score Big" De­vel­op­men­tal Camp at Iere High School, Siparia, on Wednes­day, Min­is­ter Watts said ex­cel­lence comes with hard work.

“It starts with your con­sis­ten­cy, your dis­ci­pline, and your will­ing­ness to keep work­ing when no one is watch­ing," he told play­ers.

Ad­dress­ing par­tic­i­pants at the end of the five-day camp, the Min­is­ter praised the ef­fort shown by the young play­ers and en­cour­aged them to ap­ply the same work eth­ic be­yond the court.

“You have just com­plet­ed five pow­er­ful days of train­ing, learn­ing, and growth. You showed up ear­ly each day, stayed fo­cused, and gave your all.”

He said the habits they de­vel­oped over the week can in­flu­ence oth­er parts of their lives.

“The lessons you have learned here will not dis­ap­pear when the camp ends. They will stay with you—help­ing you make bet­ter de­ci­sions on the court, fo­cus hard­er in the class­room, and han­dle life’s chal­lenges.”

Min­is­ter Watts re­mind­ed the play­ers that many top ath­letes be­gan with lim­it­ed re­sources but strong com­mit­ment.

“Le­Bron James, Stephen Cur­ry, Cait­lyn Clarke all start­ed ex­act­ly where you are now. Their great­ness wasn’t just about tal­ent; it was about work eth­ic, fo­cus, and the re­fusal to quit," he said.

He al­so point­ed to lo­cal op­por­tu­ni­ties for growth through sport.

“Right here in T&T, young ath­letes—just like you—have earned schol­ar­ships to play bas­ket­ball and fur­ther their ed­u­ca­tion at top schools, col­leges, and uni­ver­si­ties.”

He as­sured the ath­letes of con­tin­ued gov­ern­ment sup­port.

“The Gov­ern­ment is with you every step of the way. We are com­mit­ted to sup­port­ing your growth—as ath­letes, stu­dents, lead­ers, and proud young cit­i­zens.”

Min­is­ter Watts com­mend­ed the South-Cen­tral Bas­ket­ball Zon­al Com­mis­sion for cre­at­ing a plat­form for youth de­vel­op­ment, as well as coach­es, train­ers, par­ents, and guardians.

“To all the play­ers, you have tak­en a big step for­ward this week. Now take that same en­er­gy in­to your school­work, your train­ing, your homes, and your com­mu­ni­ties," he added and urged: "Stay fo­cused, stay dri­ven, and nev­er stop ris­ing.”

The camp was host­ed in Siparia and brought to­geth­er play­ers for skill de­vel­op­ment and men­tor­ship.