Rename the Diamond facility after Shafiqua Maloney – St Clair Leacock

VICE PRESIDENT of the New Democratic Party (NDP), St Clair Leacock has proposed renaming the athletic facility at Diamond, the Shafiqua Maloney Stadium.

The facility which is named the Sir Vincent Beache National Stadium, was officially opened in November, 2020.

It was named to honour the deceased politician, Sir Vincent Beache for his contribution to the development of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Yesterday, Monday August 5, Leacock proposed the name change for the sporting facility stating that it be named the Shafiqua Maloney Stadium.

Leacock’s call came mere hours before the outstanding Vincentian athlete competed in the 800m finals at the Paris Olympics. On Sunday August 4, Maloney created history for St Vincent and the Grenadines when she progressed from the semifinal race to clinch a place in the 800m final.

“What Shafiqua is doing it is not a small order, it is a lot of stress and a lot of challenges,” Leacock stated.

He added that the USbased Vincentian athlete has had to endure physical, psychological and emotional challenges on her journey leading up to the Paris Olympics.

Describing Maloney’s performance as “record breaking” Leacock said it is fitting that the stadium at Diamond be renamed after the Richland Park-born athlete.

“We will finally get a deserving name to that stadium. I am making the call very, very early,” Leacock said on the NDP New Times programme on Monday.

He also made the point that Shafiqua ran on the same track at Diamond in many competitions for her former school, the Thomas Saunders Secondary School.

While some persons have claimed that the stadium should have been named after veteran long distance runner, Pamenos Ballantyne, Leacock contended that “Pamenos does not come near her achievements”.

He insisted that his call to rename the stadium to honour Shafiqua Maloney is not an unreasonable one as “she has already made history”.

He stressed that as Vincentians, we need to have a world view of our possibilities.

Pointing to Maloney’s challenges as an inspiration, Leacock said, “Our people can be anything that they want to be; we can self actualize once we are given the opportunity”, adding, “We have a stadium looking for a name, now we have a name looking for a stadium, and Shafiqua Maloney fits that bill”.

Leacock did not dispute the significant contribution made by the late Sir Vincent Beache, he however said that “it would be more appropriate for the athletics track to be named after a sports icon”.