The lead sports story in yesterday’s Express, headlined “Fights Stopped”, brings to light a serious challenge faced by the local sports fraternity every five years. Continuity. The situation with boxing is unique, since that sport is run by a Government-appointed board. The change of administration, from PNM to UNC, has put a hold on boxing. As is the case with all other boards formed during PNM’s time in office, members of the Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board of Control (TTBBC) are expected to resign. With TTBBC authorisation required for staging cards, boxing can only resume when the new TTBBC is installed. A card scheduled for Tobago today is a casualty of the lack of continuity. This is not good enough. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts need to address this situation. The first order of business for the PM and her Sport Minister is to ensure that the new TTBBC board is appointed as a matter of urgency. Failure to act swiftly could result in the cancellation of a couple more cards being planned by the T&T Boxing Association (TTBA). There is much more at stake, however, than the June 1 card in Waterloo and the June 28 card in Petit Valley. In yesterday’s Express story, TTBA president Cecil Forde tells sports journalist Ian Prescott that his organisation’s development programmes could be adversely affected. Regional tournaments for young boxers in July and August are key as the TTBA builds towards qualification for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, California, USA. “...but without a Board, we cannot box,” Forde laments. The new Government ought to also make legislative changes that would allow boxing activity to continue seamlessly whenever -governments change. Boxing has come under the spotlight because of its unique structure that requires the TTBBC’s stamp of approval for anything to happen. All sports, though, can be negatively impacted during this transitionary period. For example, many sporting organisations are heavily dependent on public funding. The approval and disbursement processes ought not to be disrupted by a change in government. The likelihood, though, is that there will be delays now that Mr Watts has taken over ministerial responsibility for sport from former PNM member of parliament Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis. The T&T Table Tennis Association (TTTTA) is one of the National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) likely to suffer. Just before the April 28 general election, T&T competed at the Caribbean Youth Table Tennis Championships, in Barbados, parents of the selected players having covered airfare and accommodation with the expectation of being reimbursed via a Government grant. Three of the players on the T&T youth team were also chosen to represent the country at next month’s Caribbean Senior Table Tennis Championships, also in Barbados. Their parents are expected to fund their participation, again in anticipation of a Government refund. Remember, the first reimbursement had not yet hit their bank accounts when the payment discussion came up ahead of the senior tournament. This is bad business. Minister Watts ought to use his influence to ensure a speedy -resolution to this double-pay dilemma. While he is at it, the La Horquetta/Talparo MP should prioritise continuity on his to-do list, ensuring that whichever party the voting population chooses in 2030, the show will go on in local sport without need for an unplanned intermission.