Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

THE SPORTS Development Foun-dation (SDF) continued 'developing a nation through sports' by handing over three top-class facilities in St. Elizabeth recently.

The team from the SDF, which included director Saleem Lazarus, and general manager Ludlow Watts, first handed over two netball/basketball and tennis courts at Hampton High School for girls in Malvern, along with a football field in Braes River.

According to Watts, who along with Lazarus and the SDF staff watched the junior and senior teams of Hampton engage each other in a netball match, the project cost the SDF $2.8 million.

The students were excited to receive the upgraded facilities and showed their appreciation by turning out in large numbers.

After Hampton, it was over to Braes River in north-east St. Elizabeth where more than 200 people, most of whom were school children, turned up for the brief ceremony.

Lazarus told the gathering that the SDF was happy to be associated with the project while saying the day's handovers were a part of 60-plus fields and more than 200 courts built across Jamaica by the federation. The Braes River field was refurbished and fenced at a cost of $4.4 million and Lazarus asked them to take very good care of it.

"It is very important to you to take care of it," he said. "This is yours to enjoy it. You worked hard for it, so it's very important to take care of it," he said.