CANOC to celebrate 20th anniversary
On Monday 31 July 2023 the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) will observe its 20th anniversary, all across its member National Olympic Committees (NOC) and Commonwealth Games Associations (CGA).
Last year, the Elective General Assembly of the organisation held in Trinidad and Tobago, hosted by that country’s Olympic Committee (TTOC), observed the 20th anniversary of the founding of the institution.
The new executive that emerged from the aforementioned General Assembly agreed to a year-long celebration to mark the historic milestone. Those who have been following CANOC’s communications with its membership through various available media options, can attest to the consistency of the celebratory activities undertaken thus far.
Monday’s activities would be the celebration of yet another historic milestone for the region’s Olympic and Commonwealth Games movement.
Rationale
National Olympic Committees and Commonwealth Games Associations have long been in existence in the Caribbean but, like the governments in their respective countries, operated in silos, seeking out their own niches in the international arena, caring less about looking inwardly and crafting a regional approach to their engagement and participation.
There existed a sort of anxiety amongst the regional sporting bodies, with the possible exception of cricket, to each go their own way in respect of striving after success rather than systematic development by working together.
It is easy to understand the approach of individual sporting organisations across the Caribbean in the first half of the 20th century as the several islands struggled under the yoke of colonialism, whether of the Dutch, English, French or Spanish variety. As social institutions the several sporting organisations reflected the general status of the societies in which they emerged. Where any sort of development took place they were in large measure driven by the extent to which they embraced colonialism.
However, our history has taught us that there were individual members within some of the sporting organisations that, having acknowledged that the colonisers were not working in their collective best interests, required of them that they developed individual and collective strategies to effect meaningful and long-lasting change.
The political events of the Caribbean that ushered in the thinking that led to the conceptualisation and eventual realisation of the West Indies Federation, appeared to have reflected a stage in the maturation of the region. Unfortunately, the colonial legacy of ‘divide and rule’ broke the backs of the ‘progressive elements’ amongst the region’s leaders and myopia destroyed whatever good intentions existed amongst the region’s political leadership.
Just as the West Indies Federation was short-lived so too the West Indies Olympic Committee. Immediately after the collapse of the regional political institution, the eager shift to political independence was accompanied by the plethora of NOCs in those societies that mad ethe move. In the countries that remained under the yoke of British colonialism, the official multi-sport organisation was and still is the CGA.
In more recent years, the Dutch and French territories across the Caribbean have been allowed to forge their own multisport institutions, many of which have joined CANOC, much like the CGAs.
The rationale for the formation of CANOC was essentially one of collaboration amongst national multisport organisations across the region, initially, with the intention of organising the quadrennial Caribbean Games. Later, members agreed to extend their collaboration into CANOC’s transformation into a more systematic and deliberately committed institution that facilitates the genuine development of the region’s people and societies through sport; an institution that, strives after a better understanding of the power of sport in the development of the human condition and, ultimately, forging a Caribbean personality that is decidedly committed to fostering and sustaining Caribbean unity for the betterment of all its members and the region’s future.
From Caribbean Caucus to CANOC
The founding fathers of what eventually emerged as CANOC began with the Caribbean Caucus of NOCs of the Caribbean (CCNOC). At the time the primary intention was for the CCNOC to serve as the coordinator of efforts to establish and sustain the Caribbean Games, a long-held dream of successive generations of Caribbean sports leaders.
Through the latter years of the 1990s the founding fathers wrestled with the concept of the Caribbean Games and the formation of a sustainable organisation.
In 2003, the leadership of the CCNOC moved closer to the realisation of a legal entity with the support of the NOCs and CGAs of the Caribbean and growing interest in a regional Games that would allow the peoples of the Caribbean being able to witness, first hand, the region’s best athletes competing at home.
The Constitution that was presented to the membership of the CCNOC identified the new name as CANOC. It was drafted by Elton Prescott, who was at the time serving in a similar capacity in the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), under the presidency of Douglas Camacho.
The constitution was duly approved at the inaugural General Assembly of CANOC, during the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 31 July 2003.
Thus, CANOC was born and has sustained itself with increasing viability ever since.
CANOC confronts the challenges
The early years of CANOC saw sustained efforts at the realisation of the Inaugural Caribbean Games. Trinidad and Tobago raised its hand to be the first hosts of the region’s first multi-sport Games. Around 2006 CANOC and the TTOC agreed to the dates for the Inaugural Caribbean Games, August 2009.
In 2005, an analysis of CANOC was undertaken as it was observed that there was a certain lethargy gnawing away at the organisation. Some members felt that it was at a standstill, awaiting the realisation of the region’s first multisport Games but doing little else.
The analysis suggest that CANOC begin examining itself more closely such that its mandate can be expanded beyond the mere hosting of Games. The idea was for CANOC to engage in Olympic Education. An Olympic Education Committee was established for this purpose and for the next several years became the main driving force giving meaning to the organisation’s existence. Soon enough the Committee included encouraging the members to access the range of Olympic Solidarity funding to which the NOCs had access.
By meeting more regularly and engaging in discussions about the broader international Olympic Movement, CANOC eventually started to give credence to the growing acknowledgement of a Caribbean Olympic Movement that can work towards using sport as a vehicle for social development.
Not surprisingly, the members of CANOC were instrumental in ensuring that Santo Domingo was successful in winning the bid to host the Pan American Games in 2003. Similarly, the membership acted in concert to help Toronto, Canada, win the bid for the same Games in 2015.
CANOC successfully negotiated for a development al assistance package of four programmes, funded by the Toronto Organising Committee. These programmes helped to build solidarity amongst CANOC members, enhanced the regional and international standing and recognition of the institution at the regional, continental, and international levels.
The disappointment of the sudden and very late cancellation of the Inaugural Caribbean Games literally on the eve of its final stage of preparation, ripples across the membership of CANOC, leaving many leaders of NOCs and CGAs rather despondent.
However, the leadership of CANOC never abandoned their ambitions and it was a source of immense joy that swept across the organisation, and I dare say, across the Caribbean, when Guadeloupe raised its hand to boldly declare it would host the Inaugural Caribbean Games at the end of June to early July 2021. Of course, by that time, CANOC had significantly extended its reach and influence.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the Inaugural Caribbean Games to 2022. The challenges were near-monumental, especially since the once-highly supportive Regional Government appeared to have misgivings about its priorities. The leadership of the Regional Government advocated the postponement of the Games yet again, but this was rejected by both the sport officials of CROSGUA, the representative organisation that is an Associate Member of CANOC.
CANOC stood its ground in support of CROSGUA, insistence that the mantra for the realisation of the Games in 2022 must be ‘Against All Odds’ and never backed down.
In what has been CANOC’s singular historic and legacy-filled moment since its formation, the entire membership agreed at an Extraordinary Meeting, to stand firm on the dates of the Games and commit to CANOC’s depleting its coffers with a Grant of $250, ))) USD, to help defray expenses of the Organising Committee. Each member of CANOC also committed to meeting the expenses of its president and general secretary during the Games.
The LOC found support from mayors who willing offered their sports facilities to allow the Games to be realised.
The Games lived up to expectations. The triumph of CANOC is chronicled in a most delightfully professional book, the legacy of the Games.
The most enduring legacy of the Games however remains the Solidarity of CANOC that they generated and the commitment to showcase our resilience and desire to stand proudly upon the foundations of our ancestors to realise a goal brewed in the minds and hearts of our sport leaders, coaches, athletes, technical officials, and volunteers.
Happy 20th anniversary
The Inaugural Caribbean Games concluded, CANOC is now better placed globally and is committed to utilising this to leverage the mandate of building Caribbean unity, developing the region and its peoples through sport.
Long before Nelson Mandela addressed the power of sport, CLR James, Learie Constantine and a small band of Caribbean cricket aficionados residing in the United Kingdom, did so and used it to wage a significant and historic struggle for the independence of several Caribbean colonies from the near-debilitating clutches of colonialism.
Time has certainly changed things around the world. Sport continues, like time, to effect meaningful change in societies everywhere.
CANOC today, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, at once acknowledges its place and role in shaping and reshaping this Caribbean we call home.
Nothing will deter us from our commitment to the realisation of a unified Caribbean.
