The challenges of Vincy Sport in 2022
Another year is coming to a close and a new one, 2023, will open. This week we take some time to review the realities of Vincentian sport at the end of 2022.
Athletics
Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines (TASVG) the national governing body for the sport, continued to prove itself the leader in national sport for yet another year.
Handal Roban remained the best performer for the country, earning a silver medal in the 800m at the NACAC Athletics Open Championships in Grand Bahama, The Bahamas, in August, in the process, once more lowering his personal best and national record to 1:47.03. He also earned himself a full athletics scholarship to the highly-ranked Penn State University.
It was at the annual Penn Relays that earlier in the year, he set the fastest time ever for a single leg in the 4 x 800m relay while competing for Jamaica College in the High Schools category. His second leg split of 1:48.12 on 30 April, is the fastest in the 126-year history of the annual Penn Relays.
At the 49th edition of the Carifta Games held in Kingston, Jamaica, Keo Davis won silver in the 200m U17 and bronze in the 100m. Uroy Ryan earned a silver medal in the U-20 Long Jump, while Verrol Sam (bronze in the U-20 High Jump) and Amal Glasgow (bronze in the U-20 400m), were the other medallists at what many athletics aficionados, consider the world’s most exciting Athletics U20 Championships.
TASVG also served as the world leader in piloting the new World Athletics Kids Athletics Programme, thanks to the indefatigable efforts of TASVG’s Technical Director, Chester Morgan. During this year’s Wendell Hercules National Championships, more than 300 children from the 12 Vincentian primary schools in the pilot project, attended and performed the Kids Athletics Programme and were allowed to stay on to observe some of the competition by the senior athletes.
Esron Robinson, a young coach from North Leeward, was the beneficiary of a scholarship from World Athletics and attended the International Course of Athletics Coaching held in Daegu, South Korea.
Swimming
Vincentian swimmers won three medals (one silver and two bronze) at the annual Carifta Swimming Championships in Barbados. The silver came from the 13 – 14 years Freestyle relay team of Kennice Greene, Kevern Da Silva, Zariel Nelson and Jamie Joachim.
Bronze medal winners were Kennice Greene in the 50m Freestyle and Brandon George in the Backstroke, in the 13 – 14 year category.
The team set nine new national records.
T the 30th OECS Swimming Championships, Team St Vincent and the Grenadines won a total of 72 medals, 17 of which were gold, 26 silver and 29 bronze. This feat was bolstered by the fact that 23 of the team of 24 athletes won medals.
Clearly, at the level of the OECS, the Vincentian is highly competitive. At the broader Caribbean level, the Vincentian swimmers are capable of making their mark.
Netball
Our netballers won the sub-regional tournament in Dominica earlier in the year but suffered defeat at the Inaugural Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe, and again at the AFNA tournament in Jamaica that served as the regional qualifier for the Netball World Cup scheduled for 2023.
Mention must however be made that the Vincentian team finished third in the World Cup qualifier, given that Jamaica was only participating because they were hosts, having already qualified for the major competition in South Africa next year. Only the first two teams were accepted from the qualifying tournament.
The year was nonetheless a relatively good one for netball with the sport once more proving an attraction to patrons and plans in place for its more systematic development across the nation.
Cricket
Vincentian cricket has experienced significant ups and downs, much like the West Indies cricket team.
It has been a struggle for some of our players to make it into the big league. Happily, Jannillea Glasgow was called up for the West Indies U-19 tour to India.
Obed McCoy has been showing improvement with his game at the regional level.
Our officials have been on call, with Samantha Lynch engaged in coaching duties with the regional team, Deighton Butler and Mariah Baptiste doing umpiring duties and Dens Byam on call with his physiotherapist services.
Football
Football remains the nation’s most popular sport but good fortune is yet to become a permanent feature of the organisation in. 2022.
Understandably there is much frustration at different levels of the sport
There are however, signs of a more scientific approach to the development of the sport and it will take some time for the benefits to emerge. Until then, the struggle continues.
Other sports
Sailing has been making great strides over the past year and its most recent national championships proved to be quite interesting and exciting.
There has been much emphasis on building the sport and enhancing the skill competencies of the athletes involved.
The relationship with the international federation, FISA) is proving most beneficial.
The organisation’s leadership agreed to have this country’s sailing grouping joined forces with Bart’s Bash, a UK Charity supporting ‘Sailing Opportunities for All’, by participating in what was the world’s biggest sailing regatta on 10 September 2022.
Globally, the regatta involved more than 1000 clubs from 63 countries, in what was a world record-breaking event.
Table Tennis continues to be on a path to enhanced development but is yet to prove successful at the sub-regional level. The women’s team foray at the Commonwealth Games, while clearly beneficial to the participants, proved too big a challenge for the players.
The sport is now the beneficiary of tremendous support from the Vincy Table Tennis Foundation and a full-time coach.
Basketball remains a popular sport in the country but has unfortunately not been able to get back to where it should be.
Thankfully, the Bequia Basketball Tournament remains consistent and produced its annual competition yet again. This event has perhaps kept the sport more alive than anything else with the organisation.
Despite the existence of several hardcourts around the country and evidence that many people still want to practise the sport, competitions have not been organised and there is much frustration impact the willing and interested.
Perhaps there is much that can be learnt from the organisational sustainability of the annual Bequia Tournament.
Tennis continues to face numerous challenges but soldiers on. Not much has been achieved beyond local shores.
Cycling too has its share of problems. During the year there has been an increase in participation at competitions outside of St Vincent and the Grenadines, with mixed results. Much work needs to be done to increase participation at the local level as well as increased participation at the regional and international levels for us to see the performances of our cyclists.
Rugby appears to have a new lease on life, and is once more having activities in a regular basis. The new leadership is intent on setting and maintain new standards and enhanced relations with the regional and international bodies for the development of the sport.
Karate has rebranded and this has had an impact on the approach to the sport. Attendance at the Congress of the international federation has yielded good news that should set the stage for more activities and regional and international competitions.
Squash has been continuing with its development programme but may just be facing the challenges of some other national associations in terms of membership. The sport is in need of some marketing strategies that would appeal to newer players coming forward in larger numbers.
NOC suspends two
Unfortunately, two national sports associations were suspended, during the year, by the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee. They are Rowing and Taekwondo.
The NOC’s general membership voted in favour of the suspension at its General Council Meeting dated 28 November 2022.
The suspension came following the recommendation that neither of the two associations were in compliance with the governance policies that had been approved by the General Council. Attempts at garnering evidence to the contrary proved futile.
However, should either or both organisations become compliant in the future they may apply for reinstatement.
The matter of governance and compliance with established and approved policies by national sports associations is of much concern to the International Olympic Committee, and increasingly, by international sports federations (IF). National sports associations have already found themselves under threat from their respective IFs for similar breaches.
The NOC’s funding sources in particular, Olympic Solidarity and Panam Sports, are insistent on governance, especially since this is critical to the mandate of all NOCs, to use the allocated funding for the development of athletes that are capable of making the established standards for the Olympic Games as well as the Pan American Games.
National sports associations in this country have been slow to ensure the application of good governance policies and principles. Some are even tottering on the edges.
During the past year, attempts have been made to redress this untenable situation.
Additionally, the NOC has expended resources in the training of leaders of national associations and of its own executive, in respect of the roles and responsibilities of Chiefs of Mission and team management.
A comprehensive programme on sport etiquette and communications was also held with pertinent expertise on hand.
There was a comprehensive review of SVG’s participation at the Commonwealth Games and presentation and discussion of reports from Chiefs of Mission to the Inaugural Caribbean Games and Commonwealth Games.
Conclusion
While aware of the challenges posed by limited facilities and access to requisite funding, there is still much to be done by national sports associations, clubs and other stakeholders to develop sport as one of the primary pillars of national development.
We can use 2022 as our point of departure and resolve to get it all together, as a collective of sporting bodies, starting in 2023.
