Much more needs to be done in sport in SVG
Athletics leads the latest spate of successes in sport in St Vincent and the Grenadines relative to participation at regional and international competitions. There have also been successes in swimming, netball and table tennis.
The aforementioned order of our sporting successes is not in any way arbitrary. They result from consideration of the competitive level of the events in which the respective sports have been involved and the number of countries against whom our athletes competed.
The Carifta Athletics competition which just concluded in Jamaica is by far the most stringent of the competitions in which we have had Vincentian competitors and successes. There were 22 Caribbean countries involved and the competition was of such an order that one world record was established and several world-leading, national records and personal best performances attained by participating athletes.
Not surprising, therefore, athletics has been the most successful sport at the national sports awards organised by the National Sports Council.
Our netballers did well enough to win the OECS Tournament in Dominica as the sport emerged out of the challenging times occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic. The victory was a boon for the sport given the fact that it appears to be in a rebuilding phase at this time.
The netball fraternity is now looking ahead to participating in the Inaugural Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe, 29 June – 3 July 2022, and the World Championships qualifier scheduled for Jamaica in October of this year.
Vincentian swimmers continue to win medals at the Carifta level which has now reached 18 countries and is likely to expand in the future. Already they have matched strides with their OECS colleagues but not enough at the broader Caribbean and international levels.
Our young table tennis players have begun to show a level of competitiveness with their OECS peers at present. This could, with time and consistent developmental training, lead to maturation and greater success well beyond the OECS.
Our footballers, like our cricketers, are something of a mixed bag, given the lack of a consistent enhancement of performances at the regional level. The same can be said of our cyclists and other sports.
Success and its impact
The sports that have been enjoying success have been the ones that have forged and rigorously pursued a development plan. They are aware that they face immense challenges but have opted to stem the tide of negativity and press on with great determination.
The administrators play a great role in the success of any sporting organisation.
Without leadership that is at once visionary, professional and aggressive in respect of a development pathway, there can be no success.
Where a sport succeeds the leadership becomes emboldened that it is on the right path and would do much more to guarantee its continued advancement.
Coaches who are successful with their athletes’ development are empowered to do more to ensure that the success is sustainable.
The professional coach understands that while there are shortcuts to success they inevitably lead to illegal activities that bode no good for anyone in the long run.
The truly professional coach knows that it takes six to eight years to produce an elite athlete and that is with a high level of consistency all around.
Successful coaches thrive on their successes and look to the future with much optimism.
Athletes enjoy success. It is always difficult to have an athlete learn to cope with defeat. This is particularly the case when the athlete has enjoyed some measure of success. There is an expectation that success should inevitably lead to further success, as far as the athlete is concerned.
But there are other consequences attendant to success in sport. Governments, the private sector and other agencies and individuals are often motivated by the success of athletes from national sporting organisations. Each of the aforementioned is enthused by the fact that the athletes of their respective countries are achievers and therefore significant contributors to regional and international recognition.
Generally, governments are anxious to have the successful sport personalities recognised nationally since they can associate themselves with the achievements and achievers, all at once. This allows them to score some political points. We have grown accustomed to this during the period of the cold war between the West and the countries supportive of the Soviet Bloc. In a sense, success in sport was seen as an endorsement of the ideological stance of the respective countries.
In some countries, successful athletes are offered assistance in one form or another and the required facilities and equipment for the sports involved are often provided. Indeed, success appears to be a genuine delight as it becomes an opportunity to benefit from government and private sector largesse.
Building on successes in SVG
The Vincentian reality is generally mixed.
Facilities
The NDP administration constructed several hard courts around the country as a contribution to sport. Some playing fields were also developed under the regime. Once taking office the ULP administration followed in the same vein. However, both political institutions showed themselves with a decidedly low understanding of the power of sport in national development.
Many of the sport facilities constructed in this country over the past several decades have been the result of a vote-garnering strategy to either access government or retain control of the levers of power in the State.
The construction of the much-needed national stadium is taking place. The track has been in place since the latter part of 2020, just ahead of the general elections, leaving no one in doubt of the link between the two events.
Already, the presence of what exists at Diamond has yielded a significant boost in terms of interest and participation in the sport as well as enhanced performances.
But the stadium is far from being complete. The equipment being used have been provided by Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Olympic Committee. There is much work to be undertaken at the facility to bring it up to acceptable international standard.
There remains an urgent appeal from the indoor sports – basketball, volleyball, table tennis, boxing, taekwondo and karate – for a home that they all can use efficiently to take themselves to another level.
As has been the case with sports around the world, the provision of international sports facilities of leads to better performances of athletes attracted to the several different sporting options.
Sport Tourism
International standard facilities should also lead us to consider bidding to host regional and international competitions. We have seen this happening since the early 1970s with Cricket and later on with football and netball. More recently Swimming has played host to OECS Swimming Championships and Tennis used to be a fixture on the international federation’s calendar for juniors and once hosted a Davis Cup leg for the Americas. Regional road cycling has been here on a few occasions, just like athletics road running.
The availability of a national outdoor stadium and an indoor gymnasium could prove of immense importance to the sport development process in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
There is no doubt that once the attendant facilities have been completed there is every likelihood that St Vincent and the Grenadines would win the support of other national sports associations affiliated to international federations to host major events, over time.
People in St Vincent and the Grenadines love sport and have shown an eagerness to lend support to national teams hosting regional and international competitions. Many would remember the large crowds that attended One Day Internationals when the West Indies hosted matches in St Vincent and the Grenadines. However, since the debacle of the Cricket World Cup of 2007, the sport has been unable to attract the kind of attendance of previous years.
Football continues to enjoy good audiences but there is need to a more concerted effort of a sports tourism nature. Friendlies are needed to help boost both the sport development process as well as the sport’s and national coffers.
More successes would also yield better revenues from home fixtures.
Athletics, with the track only, has shown remarkable growth in participation, performances and attendance at competitions.
It is an unfortunate reality that as yet the Vincentian leadership at both the governmental and sport association level show little understanding of the immense value of sport as a contributor to the national economic cake.
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, St Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas and Bermuda, stand apart in our part of the world in utilising sport as a vehicle of national development. It is not left to the sporting organisations alone to get this aspect of society going.
The private sector in many of the aforementioned countries are adept at taking initiatives such as the hosting of celebrity sporting competitions that yield significant inflows of tourists on a consistent basis.
Most national sports associations cannot hope to win bids to host international competitions unless they have written financial guarantees of support from their respective governments.
It is one thing for us to engage in ‘talk’ about our capacity to host events but unless we commence now to train people in all aspects of the burgeoning sport tourism industry we cannot hope to make a dent in it nor generate revenue from our engagement in it.
Supporting athletes
There is an urgent need for national support for our athletes. The sports in which we can generate success are those that attract the poorest of our youths and at times, the ones who come from single-parent homes and are perceived as burdens on Vincentian society.
National sports associations are often forced to engaged in deliberate socialisation to help build the character of those who are attracted to their respective sports, a role that they are not all prepared for or capable of doing successfully.
Athletes in St Vincent and the Grenadines are in need of much financial support. Many have little access to adequate nutritional support. Others have the acumen but lack the resources to access appropriate levels of education.
Yet others cannot afford access to the medical and mental support required to attain their best on the field of competition.
Government officials must do more than just pay lip service to our successful athletes. They must understand their challenges and lend meaningful support.
All of us must pitch in to encourage and support our athletes. They are Vincentian and they are human.
