Time to trim the fat

Over indulgence in anything is bad, so when the excesses in any form are hindrances, then they must be got rid of.

It can be concluded that one of the reasons for the slothful, if not regressive, pace at which our cradle, schools sports, has been moving must be the excess pounds that the configuration of the hierarchy of sports in the country has been carrying around for sometime now.{{more}}

Hence, it is time to shed some of the deadweight that exists.

This column has repeatedly made the call to take a serious look at the organizational chart of the administration of school sports. The present set up shows too many persons with too many portfolios, yet the returns are negligible.

This administrative obesity is the cause for the lean achievements we are having in Sports, especially from our school athletes. As it is, too many cooks are in the kitchen and are spoiling the broth.

It is no surprise that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has seemingly patented the last position at the annual exercise known as the Windward Islands Games. For the last three years, this country has occupied the cellar position. And, this is sad.

This year’s edition was held in Grenada. This country finished last in Athletics, last in Male and Female Basketball; second in Male Volleyball; third in the Female segment of that discipline, and most disappointingly, second in Netball – a discipline that we have not lost a match in for several years.

The only sport at which we excelled was Football, topping the three other islands in style and not conceding a goal.

The results, though, are a reflection of the manner in which school sports is administered, and by extension, the state of sports in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Speaking of being dealt a bad hand, it is not coincidental that our three-year consecutive demise at the Windwards’ outing meshes with other developments.

We are quick to blame, point finger and knock our secondary school students for their downward slide at the yearly four nation multi-sport competition. But looking below the surface, those who have held these vulnerable ones at ransom should be made to pay by way of their departure from anything with the insignia ‘Sports’.

Some of the other territories in the region, including the other Windward Islands, have similar operations with the Ministry of Education, distinct from the Ministry of Sports.

Those two ministries coexist in the other countries, so why can’t we?

So it leads everyone to the conclusion that the problems lie in the personnel appointed, who are more concerned about their position, rather than development.

In 2008, officials are still spouting the once stigmatized town versus country. Please, and we are saying we have an Education Revolution here!

As a matter of mandate and duty, the sports officers are charged with working in schools and community levels and deepening links with national, regional and international organizations, with the Ministry of Education’s officials responsible for overseeing Physical Education in schools. But this arrangement does not seem to be working.

So, can we really go anywhere in the region and present a paper on school sports?

If anyone is brazen enough to do so, then he/she should carry a blank piece of paper. Do you get the message?

What we have, however, are officials who take delight at addressing every local sporting ceremony with a template of repetition.

This type of diet simply just makes the midsection bulge with wind, as not much nutritional substance is brought to the table, but regurgitation, after a consumption of others’ ideas. Plagiarism personified.

Our current Minister of Sports’ continuous referral to Sports being part of the centrality of national development further adds to the blubber of fatty tissues, as it’s a case of more long talk. Action almost none!

But what is interesting in the entire personality impasse is that the Minister of Education has not been vocal on the matter. Is she aware of the happenings and the magnitude of the impact on the nation’s students?

I know that she knows what should be done when your right hand offends you. She also knows that hurdles and obstacles were made to be overcome, not to make one go under.

For certain Madam and Mr. Minister, we cannot go into the new academic year with the same burden on our backs. The olive branch has not worked. Maybe it is time to put the axe to the root.

We are set to host the Windwards Schools’ Tournament in 2009, so it cannot be business as usual. Another last place will not work.

What definitely is not working and will not work is the obstruction at the Sion Hill Playing Field known as “The Mound”.