Where are the follow ups?

We are into the long August vacation and there is no shortage of sporting clinics, camps, workshops, all geared towards keeping students meaningfully occupied , whilst helping them to lead healthy lifestyles.

These activities are welcomed and assist parents immensely in reducing the truism, “the devil finds work for idle hands to do”.{{more}}

Everyone gets into “Summer programmes”, some for genuine love of sports, while others conduct viable commercial activities in the name of sports,

preying on defenceless parents who seek any avenue to have their children under supervision, while they are at work.

Whatever the objectives are, what is needed are structured approaches towards making these annual exercises meaningful ventures.

Far too often organisers seem to be groping in the dark as to the clear objectives of the respective programmes.

The programmes are held, certificates of participation are distributed in some instances and it’s bye -bye until the other year and we start all over again.

Many national associations miss the boat each year to align themselves to the programmes to even piggy back on them or dovetail their activities to make good use of the initiatives.

Linkages between the relevant bodies are non-existent as the right does not know what the left hand is doing.

Having had some first hand experience of some of the programmes over the years, latent talent often comes to the fore, but goes nowhere as during the other eleven months of the year nothing is put in place to harness this talent.

Societal it may be, as we often get “hot and sweaty” about certain exciting occurrences then fade away quickly; the opportunities for making sports a viable entity slip by also.

Several national associations are guilty of this practice.

Similarly, the annual Windward Island Schools’ Games have become a farce. But I can only speak of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as year after year, teams are sent out with no real developmental plans in mind.

The games in last few years have been a farewell trip for our young school leavers. Although we have ended last place in some disciplines, no efforts are made to extricate ourselves from this .

Additionally, teams pay visits here and that’s it. Establishing partnerships to have exchanges in expertise and general formation of friendships go by the wayside.

Hopefully the executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation will make good on the present visit of the Christopher Newport University and seek for opportunities for football scholarships for our youngsters with the required scholastic aptitude to go with their sporting talent.

For many years this country and by extension the Windwards have produced good crops of Under-19 cricketers, yet nothing is heard of many of them after they have passed this age group.

Where do the others go if they do not go on to make the senior Windwards team?

The time may be right to correct this wrong as it has been occurring with greater frequency.

With the four island boards in strong financial positions having benefited from the Stanford initiative, a collaborative effort among the territories to ensure that players come through that immediate post secondary period is paramount towards continuity.

Part-scholarships, incentives, specialised coaching or an annual Under-21 tournament, could be the panacea to the profuse bleeding that takes place between the gap of Under-19 and senior representation.

This approach can be adopted by the four football organisations which are assured of US$1 million every four years for football development and administration.

Unlike the lack of follow up by local and regional bodies, this column continues its persistence in asking to hear from the LOC.

Yes, there was a whisper earlier this week with the playing of two matches at the spanking new Arnos Vale Playing Field. Good!

But the sporting public needs more audible and definitive voice to when the Arnos Vale , Sion Hil and Stubbs fields will be freed up for general use, albeit understandly so, restrictive access. The prohibitive actions are not welcomed to the users.

email: kingroache@yahoo.com