by SHERRYLYN A. CLARKE

THE LAW COURTS should be the final recourse for resolving conflict, used only after all other avenues have failed.

That was the advice issued by Minister of Sports Anthony Wood at the opening ceremony of the Digicel-sponsored 16th Caribbean Cup Darts Championship at Sherbourne Conference Centre last Saturday evening.

Wood was speaking on developing a culture of sports as outlined in the draft national strategic policy and took the opportunity to comment on the issue of sports governance. It followed a short address by Peter Marshall of Mount Gay Distilleries who outlined what organisations needed to do to attract and maintain sponsorship.

"One of the disappointing features that has crept into our sporting landscape in Barbados is the lack of good governance in the various associations, and this is one of those issues that my ministry is paying fairly close attention to," Wood said.

"Too many disputes of late in sports in Barbados have been taken to the law courts to be decided, and this is a feature that we need to eliminate from the sporting landscape. It is costly, time consuming and interferes with the smooth execution of the various sporting competitions.

"I hope that mechanisms can be found to ensure that in cases where disputes do arise, they can be settled to the satisfaction of all involved without resorting to the law courts," he added.

"The law courts should not be used as the first resort. Indeed, they should be the very last resort, and if it can be avoided, it should be avoided."

Wood commended the Barbados Darts Association (BDA) for its reputation for good governance and said it stood as an example for other sporting organisations to emulate.

BDA president Bryan Evelyn said they were pleased to host the tournament, and added that darts players now had more opportunities to mingle with professionals.