Seychelles gets first Olympic house |02 March 2022
Youth, Sports and Family Minister Marie-Céline Zialor and the president of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, Antonio Gopal, have officially opened Seychelles’ first-ever Olympic house.
The opening of the Olympic house,the headquarters of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga), took place yesterday afternoon in a ceremony held at its premises located between Stad Linite and the Nature Seychelles headquarters at Roche Caïman. Minster Zialor and Mr Gopal had the honour of unveiling the commemorative plaque and to cut the ribbonand the cake.
Present were former Vice President Vincent Meriton who was once the Minister for Youth and Sports, principal secretary for youth and sports, Ralph Jean-Louis, past principal secretaries for youth and sports ‒ Denis Rose and Patrick Nanty ‒ High Commissioner of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to Seychelles, Srimal Wickremasinghe, Sportsman of the year 2019 Rodney Govinden, Socga executive committee members, representatives of sports federations and association and invited guests.
Work on the building started in early January 2020 and completed in June 2021 at a cost R5.4 million, thanks to the financial sponsorshipreceived from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Socga and from government which provided the plot of land.
Apart from offices, the Olympic house, to be used by all sports federations and associations, also has a big meeting room that can hold at least 60 persons and a resource centre where the Olympic body’s memorabilia and anything connected to the Olympics will be kept.
In her opening remark for the auspicious occasion, Minister Zialor saidthe future of sports lies in the children and we have to work to groom them from the very beginning. She added that now that we have our Olympic house, there should be more working collaboration between stakeholders for the advancement of sports to a higher level in the country.
She noted that sports personnel in Seychelles tend to work in isolation but this needs to changeand to have a more collaborative engagement to further create space that will allow everybody with sport knowledge to contribute their share amiddifferences anddisagreements. She stated that the ministry’s presence at the ceremony was to show the government’s engagement and continued support to the development of sports in the country in the bid to win a first Olympic medal.
Minister Zialor said the realisation of the Olympic house is a cause for celebration and that it also will play a significant role in more sports celebrations to come during the year. She thanked present and past members for their commitment and efforts in the realisation of the Olympic house.
For his part, Mr Gopal said the realisation of an Olympic house had been a point of conversation for Socga members and other local sporting bodies during meetings for many years. He said sports federations and associations will now have a place to work and conduct their meetings for free.
Explaining the need for having an Olympic house, Mr Gopal said it is the norm by IOC and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca) for member countriesto have their own Olympic house.Anoca, he said, has further embarked on a project to ensure that all African National Olympic committees acquire an Olympic house in the near future.
During the ceremony, there were cultural dance performances by primary school students of the Bel Ombre Olympic club, poems dedicated to the Olympic house recited by Keisha Jean from Mont Fleuri secondary school and Elsia Françoise, Miss Environment Seychelles. The guests were also presented with tokens of appreciation.
After the cutting of the ribbon to officially open the building, the guests were given a tour of the facility and viewed an exhibition inside the meeting room. They also witnessed the cake cutting which was followed by souvenir photos.
Before acquiring the Olympic house, Socga had since its inception in 1979, conducted its operations in different locations ‒ in a small wooden building on Palm Street; the ex-Youth Centre building at Mont Fleuri;the building behind the ex-Youth Centre now being occupied by the Mont Fleuri district administration;at Aarti Chambers, Mont Fleuri;and Stad Linite for the past 20 years.
The cornerstone for the construction of the Olympic house was laid on Thursday February 10, 2005 by former Minister for Local Government, Sports and Culture, Sylvette Pool, and Seychelles National Olympic Committee (Snoc)president Antonio Gopal. On that day, Simon Lespoir, one of the founding fathers of Snoc), described the ceremony “as a milestone event, bringing joy of accomplishment of a goal as old as Snoc”.
Snoc was the original name of the local Olympic body from 1979 when Seychelles became a member of the IOC to March 2007 when the name changed to Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga). Socga represents both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
Text and photos Patrick Joubert
