By NAN Sports Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan. 17, 2020: Four top Caribbean roots sports stars can also now add the title of Goodwill ambassadors to their resumes and the title of ‘Your Excellency.’
West Indies international cricketer, Daren Sammy; English Pro Footballers Jermain Colin Defoe and Leslie Ferdinand as well as Olympic High jumper Lavern Donaline Spencer were recently appointed as Goodwill Ambassadors by the Government of St. Lucia.
All four were either born in or have roots in Saint Lucia.
Sammy, OBE, a two-time T20 World Cup winning captain as well as a right-handed batsman and a fast-medium bowler, was born in Micoud, St. Lucia.
The Beckton, England-born Defoe OBE, who plays as a striker for Scottish Premiership club Rangers, on loan from AFC Bournemouth of the Premier League, and the England national team, roots run to St. Lucia through his mother while Ferdinand is an English former footballer and current football coach and Director of Football at his former club Queens Park Rangers, is of St. Lucian descent as well.
Olympian Spencer was born in Cacao Babonneau, Castries, St. Lucia.
The Ambassadors are expected to represent Saint Lucia locally, regionally and internationally by leveraging their profile and celebrity status to tap into access for growth and to forge strategic partnership between the Cultural Development Foundation and other related agencies.
The title of “Your Excellency” will be conferred on the Goodwill Ambassadors, as well as the Saint Lucia Medal of Merit Gold. They will also be issued with an official or diplomatic passport as awarded by Cabinet and a decorated red “laissez-passer” signed by the Governor General.
