Why Sport Matters
Sport has played an important role in our lives for centuries. Sport keeps us fit, makes us healthy, better disciplined and more organized. It brings us pleasure, builds our confidence, makes us stronger, helps us socialise and can prolong our life. It unites people of different age, gender and class. Sport actively engages and brings people together.
Sport increases self-improvement, allowing all to invest their time and energy into something positive and productive. It can present challenges for the individual to overcome, encouraging problem solving, which benefits the individual in countless ways.
Daily exercise can pave the way not only for happiness, but also for growth in all areas of your life. Sport encourages good physical and mental health, increases cardiovascular and muscular fitness and aids the prevention of several health issues that are common in the Caribbean.
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Obesity
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Depression
- Dementia
All of the above are prevalent in the Caribbean and can all be helped, prevented, reduced or reversed through regular exercise.
So many in the world love sport and so many more would if they had the chance to play. Sport allows us to have fun and reap the benefits from doing something that we love.
The development of people. Sport is a great way to teach people how to work on themselves, including their discipline, work ethic, attitude and confidence. All of which aid the development of stronger communities.
Coach development. A vital part of the work we do is develop coaches. There are limited qualified coaches available in the Caribbean. As fantastic as learning and improving in a sport is, it is much more beneficial if this is done with qualified coaches through good coaching. Working with national and international governing bodies, our facilities will be a centre for coach education, allowing members of the communities to gain internationally recognised coaching qualifications.
Sport in schools. Most schools in the Caribbean lack the essential resources that are necessary to give children a range of sporting opportunities. The current and next generation of Caribbean residents are not exposed to a wide range of sports. Our facilities and resources are readily available to all schools, school children and young people.
Supporting healthcare. Good health can play a major part in living an enjoyable life. The HummingBirds are aware of the positive affect that regular sporting activity can have on individuals’ health, making this is one of the key motives behind our ambitions. On top of what The HummingBirds are aiming to achieve through sport, we will support healthcare in the Caribbean in any way we can. This could include fundraising for projects, donating equipment, resources and medical sundries.
Supporting education. Education is extremely powerful and vitally important. The HummingBirds will do whatever we can to support education on the islands, with and through sport when possible. This will range from helping to supply schools with the needed equipment and resources, to enabling qualified early years, primary and secondary school teachers to travel to and work in the Caribbean.
How we Work
The HummingBirds use a four-stage process: Locate, Facilitate, Reach Out and Manage.
Locate. By speaking to local community organisations, local politicians, mayors and even sports ministers, we get to find out what communal land is available.
It is made clear to us before we proceed what is and is not allowed to be done with any suitable land that might be available. We then check the land to see what facilities can be built. All land we proceed with must be easily accessible by the local community.
Facilitating. After spending time gathering information about the area, its communities and their sporting interests, we build suitable, sustainable facilities, using as much renewable energy as possible.
The size of the development takes into consideration the land available, the community it is catering for and the sports it will be accommodating. The facilities supply the required equipment and resources, enabling every willing resident to participate. The facilities give the community the option to access sports, and potentially sports they have never played before. Over time, some of our facilities will expand to meet demand.
Outreach. It is our job to reach out to make sure that the communities are aware of the new facilities we have built that are now available to them, and that they feel welcome to get involved.
There is an ongoing need for outreach and sports education, exposing more members of more communities to more sports. We want all people to feel inspired to play sport.
Management. Good management is key to the long-term success of our facilities. We encourage members of the community to regularly get involved and help natural talent flourish.
The management must make sure that the facilities consistently offer a good standard of service, resources and cleanliness. Games, sessions, classes, leagues, tournaments and camps all take place at the facilities we build, making good use of the equipment and coaching we supply.
Inclusion for all. Our facilities are set up and managed for every member of the community to use.
Our facilites do not discriminate against social standing, household income, age, race, gender or ability. We want all residents of the Caribbean regularly participating in sport.
Where we work
The HummingBirds want to help the whole of the Caribbean, working in as many of the countries that make up the subregion as possible.
Why we are ‘the hummingbirds’
Hummingbirds can mostly be found in North, South and Central America. The Caribbean is the area our charity wants to help. The hummingbird is a very small bird, ranging between 7cm to 13cm in size. The islands our charity wants to help are also very small. Jamaica is the 2nd largest island our charity wants to help, and Jamaica can fit inside England 12 times!
There are many different species of hummingbirds, just like the many different islands there are in the Caribbean. It’s these different islands the charity wants to help. Islands such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Barbados, Guyana and more. When you think about a hummingbird, you’re likely to think about the Caribbean. When you think about The HummingBirds, we want you to think about our charity.