Department of Correction and Rehabilitation Sports Day

#TurksandCaicos, April 6, 2023 – The D.C.R. Rehabilitation Unit’s newly formed Sports Committee hosted its first event in the form of a Games Day.

This was held on Saturday 1^st April 2023 under the theme “Rehabilitation Through Unification”.

The day saw inmates from different wings coming together and participating as a team along with officers.  Members of the local community who were invited also participated in various games which included Basketball, Soccer, Dominoes, Backgammon, Chess and Table Tennis.

This event was aimed to promote our low-level gang intervention and unity through participation in sports and games.  The day’s activities progressed without incident and achieved its purpose of everyone taking part and contributing well.

Continuing with this type of low level social intervention we will see reductions in the gang culture which can be prevalent in our prison and communities. Tackling gangs and violence will make the prison and our local communities safer.

Helping prisoners address their offending behavior and preparing them to be productive members of our communities upon release is one of the key roles of the prison.

In his opening address the Prison Superintendent said.

“Morning everyone and thank you for joining us for our sports and games day.

We are grateful and pleased that people from our community have come in to join the people who live and work in the prison and I’m sure we will see some really good competition today.

Today is part of our community engagement program, where we invite the community to reach in to the prison.

It is about more than just sports and games, it’s about the equality that sports and games accomplish, where we are all equals and competitors.

The values of sport are ones we can all adopt in our day to day lives, teamwork, control, discipline, integrity, respect and enjoyment.

Being part of a team is about understanding, listening to other people’s points of view, helping and encouraging, it’s about you taking personal responsibility and doing your best. Through showing control, being disciplined, having integrity and being respectful, you and your team will achieve the most you can, which is enjoyment. I would ask you all to reflect later today on how much you have taken from the day, and just think about how you can make every day as successful following the values you have shown today.

Being a successful member of a community, in prison or in wider society is what we want you to achieve, so enjoy today, apply the values to your wider life and let’s be successful together.

To close, again thank, play hard, play fair and let the games begin!!”