GIVE THEM SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE TO DO!
THE NEW PROVIDENCE SPORTS AND EDUCATIONAL CENTRE
A SERIOUS SOLUTION
FOR A SERIOUS PROBLEM

WHAT IS IT?

• After school tuition and daily training in a range of Sports for 400 students each year
• Regular weekly sports for a further 2,000
• Mentoring and academic support for ‘at risk’ students
• College and vocational placement for all needy participants
• First class sporting facilities, accessible to all
• A safe place where a kid can be a kid

HOW IS IT FUNDED?

• Through “100 Caring Companies” – The fundraising arm of the NPSEC
• 100 businesses and organisations are forming Corporate Partnerships with the ‘Winton Development Trust’ to establish the centre on 10 acres in East Nassau
• Each company is asked to contribute between $4,000 and $10,000 each year for five years

NPSEC – Physical Plan

HOW DOES YOUR COMPANY BECOME INVOLVED?

By contacting Elystan Miles at the NPSEC Development office by phone or fax:
394-2252 or 393-1932 (home)
Or by e-mailing:
elymiles@hotmail.com

I will arrange to visit you at your convenience in order to discuss this groundbreaking initiative in greater detail.

THE PHILOSOPHY

Essential to the establishment of the Sports and Educational Centre is the reduction of crime in The Bahamas by improving the quality of life of Bahamian children, and nurturing ambition by providing access to structured, enjoyable and meaningful leisure activity within the umbrella of a unified community.

THE VALUE OF SPORT IN COMBATTING CRIME

Leisure is central to the quality of life of young people, as a key source of friendship, networks and self-identity, particularly in the absence of work, full-time education or family responsibilities. However, here a distinction should be made between the short-term and long term benefits of sports and sporting institutions.

The short term benefits of sports are predominantly ‘diversionary’, ie: the casual integration of youth at risk reduces delinquency rates by encouraging the positive use of leisure time. However, it would be naïve to say that sport alone can reduce the levels of youth crime in society, although it can have an indirect effect by providing challenge, adventure and meaning to young lives.

In the long term, it is the environment surrounding the sporting activity that is the predominant influence on the young person. Sport delivered in a sound ethical framework can engender self-respect, esteem, confidence and leadership qualities, the presumption here being that the social outcomes of participating in sport, rather than the inherent value of the sport itself are the significant factors in reducing the propensity of individuals (mostly young males) to commit criminal acts.

In other words, if I wish to gain acceptance into a positive social group (in this case through the medium of sports) my chances are greatly reduced if I am inclined towards anti-social behaviour. Once accepted, the individual is exposed to an environment that is one of encouragement and beneficial to social development.
However, most large-scale programmes tend to have either vague rationales or over-ambitious objectives (often motivated by the need to impress funders with an apparent 'economy of solutions'). The idea that sport reduces crime is inferred and simply presumed to be one of the possible outcomes of the provision of the programmes. As such, the vast majority of sports programming is diversionary in nature and does not directly address the underlying issues of character and community.

If sporting programmes are to achieve more than simply providing short-term alternatives to opportunity-led crime, their effectiveness depends on whether they achieve at least some of the following:

• Improvements in cognitive and social skills.
• Reductions in impulsiveness and risk-taking behaviour
• Raised self-esteem and self-confidence
• Improvements in education and employment prospects

Most young people who are less predisposed to anti-social behaviour develop these skills, to varying degrees, within the confines of a supportive family and go on to better integrate into society. However, the vast majority of crime and criminal acts are committed by disenfranchised groups, particularly those involved in the ‘gang culture,’ a problem that is becoming increasingly endemic to the Bahamas. Young, disillusioned men who seek the perceived self-esteem and self-confidence provided by the ‘gang’ environment will commit illogically self-destructive acts in order to gain or maintain the respect of similarly disillusioned peers.

The psychological profile of the young person who finds himself drawn to the gang suggests that young people do so because they see few alternatives and would be inclined towards more socially acceptable activities, if such were available. Logically a properly constituted sports intitiative, based on strong ethical principles would fill that ‘need for acceptance’ while also providing positive goals and constructive motivation which would replace the negativity and desperation that comes with gang membership.