PRIORITISING VINCENTIAN SPORT
Despite repeated requests, pleading and urgings, St Vincent and the Grenadines has not yet reached the stage of according sport the priority it deserves and needs. There is nothing to show that anyone has even begun to listen to all that has been written, spoken and discussed about the role that sport must play in the broader national development of Vincentian society.
There is little surprise therefore that we continue to mistake the leaves for the forest in respect of sport here at home.
Generally, sport in St Vincent and the Grenadines does not receive much respect and therefore little or no attention beyond the euphoria that accompanies victories by athletes/teams in regional and international competition.
Ministerial status
Much has been said about sport being included in the ministerial portfolios of successive governments here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Over the past several years sport as a ministerial portfolio has been tossed around with little rationale and explanation given.
While one understands that governments have the right to establish their respective ministerial portfolios, it seems anachronistic that in the heat of electioneering, sport is increasingly prioritised on one platform after another, essentially to appeal for the youth vote. There is never clarity on those same platforms of where the portfolio would be placed. Once the elections are over and government established, sport becomes literally, of little concern, something that is clearly reflected in where the portfolio lands and what it is grudgingly allocated in the successive annual budgets.
Over the years successive governments have placed the sport portfolio with the Ministry of Education and Youth; Ministry of Community Development, Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture. It has never been seen as important enough to be accorded independent status.
There is reason to believe that successive governments have failed to treat sport as a major revenue earner. This flows from inadequate attention being paid by the competing political parties to the dynamics of global sport and revenue generation.
There is a more fundamental problem. Despite engagement in regional and international discussions and agreement on the Millennium Development Goals and later, the Sustainable Development Goals, successive Vincentian governments have failed to go beyond paying ‘lip service’ to sport. They consistently fail to work towards the cultivation of the culture of physical activity in the fight to combat non-communicable diseases as they wreak havoc on successive generations of Vincentians.
Few of our ministers of government have taken the time to follow the United Nation’s comments in its publication, the UN Chronicle, dated 5 August 2026, ‘Regular participation in sport and physical activities provides various social and health benefits. Not only does it have a direct impact on physical fitness, but it also instils healthy lifestyle choices among children and young people, helping them remain active and combat non-communicable diseases. A number of studies conducted by the World Health Organization have also highlighted that physical exercise can stimulate positive mental health and cognitive development. Exercise has been linked to improvements in self-esteem and self-confidence, as well as positive effects for people struggling with depression and anxiety.
‘Sport contributes to well-being regardless of age, gender or ethnicity. It is enjoyed by all, and its reach is unrivalled.’
To the extent that any Vincentian government continues to ignore the immeasurable benefits of sport to the general well-being of its citizens, it undermines the oft repeated commitment to genuine national development. Development is about people, physical and mental wellbeing, not just economic wellbeing.
Sport agencies in Vincentian society
There are several sport agencies actively engaged in Vincentian society.
The Ministry responsible for sport
At the governmental level that is the ministry that includes sport amongst its portfolio. This agency includes public sector administrative staff as well as a Department of Sport staffed by sport officers and several sports personnel temporarily engaged under the Youth Empowerment Service (YES) programme.
The ministerial portfolio for sport has never been clearly defined, through the years to such an extent that many Vincentians involved in sport or who desire to get involved in sport have immense difficulty in explaining what the Ministry of Sport has as its official mandate in the governmental structure of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Admittedly, there is now a genuine attempt being made to identify that mandate and the ways in which the organisation relates/collaborates with other sport agencies operating in the nation.
The Ministry of Education
The Ministry of Education has, as part of its mandate, Physical Education and Sport, an examinable subject at the level of the Caribbean Examinations Council – both the CSEC and CAPE. Under the previous political administration the portfolio of a Ministry of Higher Education was established and so Physical Education and Sport at the CAPE and Associate degree levels are included under its ambit.
At the elementary and secondary school levels therefore, physical education and sport are part of their remit. The Ministry of Sport, however, has to maintain a symbiotic relationship with the Ministry of Education for the conduct of compeitive school sport competitions in any given year. This relationship has experienced some rough waters over the years and efforts are currently being made to facilitate consistently calm waters between both institutions.
The YES personnel engaged by the Ministry that carries the sport portfolio are not all trained and certified physical educators, while some are certified and trained coaches. This has implications for exactly what they do at and with schools outside of assistance with preparations for and overseeing competitions between schools at the different levels. This is a work in progress and subject to continuous monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL).
National Sports Council (NSC)
The NSC was established by an Act of Parliament. It is woefully in need of a comprehensive review and re-working if it is to be brought uptodate with contemporary global requirements and relevance. That has to be a work in progress.
Successive governments have failed to appropriately address the gross disparity between what is stated in the Sports Council Act and the normative practices engaged in by the membership and administrators. This has been exacerbated by the lack of clarity in respect of the organisations established mandate, contemporary changes impacting sport and the politicisation of the institution, over the years.
The NSC has therefore been unable to offer any sort of leadership in respect of the development of sport in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
For a very long time, the NSC operated a rather clumsy system where national sports associations (NSA) had to submit a set of information to it annually. Additionally, NSAs had to submit requests for assistance to the NSC for vetting, after which the latter forwarded its recommendation t the National Lotteries Authority (NLA). However, once that was done, the NSA’s were left to follow up with the NLA, to learn whether or not the submission by the NSC was approved, and to what financial extent. The system never really worked. NSAs were frustrated by an annoyingly inefficient process.
National Lotteries Authority (NLA)
The NLA has, from inception, been intended to facilitate funding sport an dculture in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Unfortunately, over time, Vincentians involved in sport and culture have come to question the real purpose of the institution.
The NLA appears to have been transformed over the past several years to such an extent that sport and culture are just two of the many agencies that can access funding. Other ‘causes’ have been beneficiaries of funding and the Vincentian public may not have been in receipt of any clear indication of what some of them are.
By happenstance, for example, Vincentians came to learn that some students received assistance for one reason or another. Individuals appear to have received assistance for addressing health issues.
The NLA also began establishing sport facilities around the country, an original mandate of the NSC. These facilities were better resourced than some which fell directly under the NSC, leaving the public to ponder whether they were created for their political value than anything else.
There is an urgent need for the NLA to inform the Vincentian public of its role in our society and importantly, how is it intended to service sports.
National Sports Associations (NSA)
NSAs are the official national governing bodies of organised sports. Each NSA gains that status by virtue of being a member of the respective sport’s international federation (IF) or international governing body.
NSAs are therefore appropriately accredited to act in St Vincent and the Grenadines as being responsible for the growth and development of the sport and have the right to select national delegations to participate in the activities either convened or sanctioned by the respective IF.
NSAs are mandated to sanction competitions and programmes organised in the country, at all levels, ensuring that they comply with the international federation’s regulations and standards. They also organise their own competitions under the mandate of the IFs.
The Sports Council Act of St Vincent and the Grenadines makes provision for the establishment of a National Sports Assembly that brings all duly recognised NSAs together periodically, to facilitate national programmes and activities related to the development of sport across the nation. However, this Assembly has never functioned. Over the years, different Ministers of Sport have convened meetings of NSAs without any definitive focus and lacking consistency.
National Olympic Committee
The National Olympic Committee (IOC) is a creature of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is officially granted membership of the IOC but does not have status in respect of the decision-making processes.
The IOC is a self-perpetuating sport organisation that owns the Olympic Games and leads the International Olympic Movement.
NOCs are the national organisations recognised by the IOC, accept and satisfy its mandate under the Olympic Charter, and participates in its activities. It must at all times guard its independence from undue influence from all sources. NOCs are composed of NSAs. The Olympic Charter insists that NSAs whose sports are on the Olympic Games’ Sports Programme mustalways have a distinct majority amongst the membership of NOCs.
Conclusion
The prioritisation of sport in St Vincent and the Grenadines, requires appropriate alignment of the several major agencies we have identified here.
The work to build sport is inextricably linked to national wellbeing and national development and involves all Vincentians. A truly sporting nation is a healthy one, highly productive, disciplined and unified.
Leadership matters and there is an urgent need to understand that sport in just only about winning medals. It is about the betterment of a society, making it whole and united.
Let the work begin!
Let no one be excluded!
