A new public-private partnership is set to transform school sports across Antigua and Barbuda, after the nation’s Minister of Sports and Creative Industries Dwayne George unveiled a collaborative initiative with local enterprises Cool & Smooth and Joma Caribbean. Under the agreement, the two private stakeholders will provide much-needed sporting uniforms for student-athletes across all public primary and secondary institutions in the country.
Speaking on the scope of the program, George confirmed that the initiative will reach roughly 50 educational institutions, serving competitors across eight popular competitive sporting disciplines: basketball, track and field athletics, volleyball, netball, cricket, association football, tennis and golf. This broad coverage means that thousands of young athletes across the archipelago nation will gain access to standardized, quality uniforms that they might not have been able to access through school funding alone.
Minister George emphasized that this cross-sector collaboration represents far more than a one-off donation. He framed the partnership as a deliberate, forward-thinking investment in Antigua and Barbuda’s youth population and the long-term vitality of school sports across the country. Supporting young athletes with proper equipment, he noted, helps remove barriers to participation and encourages more students to engage in regular physical activity and competitive play.
The partnership also builds on a long track record of investment in local sports from Cool & Smooth. The firm has previously supported a range of sporting initiatives across Antigua and Barbuda, including earlier collaborative projects with the Ministry of Sports, demonstrating its sustained commitment to developing grassroots athletics in the nation. Officials from the ministry expect that this new partnership will serve as a model for future collaborations between government and private enterprise to support youth development and sports access.