Upgrade for Thornton multi-purpose court

The rustic community of Thornton in St Elizabeth has received an upgraded multi-purpose court.

An official handover took place at the Thornton Primary School on Thursday. The court was refurbished at a cost of $6.2 million by the Digicel Foundation.

Located in the midst of the Appleton Sugar Estate, the multi-purpose court currently serves approximately 9,527 residents from the communities of Aberdeen, Balaclava, Bogue, Quickstep, Roses Valley, Siloah and Thornton. The upgraded facility will therefore support a variety of sporting tournaments for these communities, including netball, volleyball and basketball - sporting ventures which bring communities together.

As part of the renovation activities, the Digicel Foundation installed first-class seating stands and improved lighting to the entire complex that will facilitate sporting competitions in the nights on the multi-purpose court.

Assistant sports coordinator of the Thornton Community Club, Shola Smith, sees the upgrade and renovation of the multi-purpose court as a great achievement for the community. She highlighted that more and more young people will be able to hone their talents in basketball, netball and volleyball - which the community is known for.

upgrade

The Digicel Foundation maintained that it is pleased to upgrade the facilities at Thornton because of the widespread impact that the multi-purpose court has in bringing people from in and around the Thornton community together.

Executive vice-chairman of the Digicel Foundation, Major General Robert Neish, said: "The Digicel Foundation supports initiatives that build communities and bring people together. One of the best ways to do so is through sports, and we are happy that the Thornton Multi-purpose Court will benefit over 9,000 residents from seven communities across St Elizabeth."

Since its inception in Jamaica in 2004, the Digicel Foundation has invested in several sporting projects that have ranged from the construction of multi-purpose courts to the development of football fields. The more common among these projects are the STETHS Multi-purpose Complex in St Elizabeth, the Bath Multi-purpose Court in St Thomas, and the St Georges Sports Complex in Portland.