Thinking tough

In order to make an omelette, one has to break the eggs. And this is a must.

The same applies to Sports, and for us here to excavate ourselves from the present abyss, making tough decisions in the interest of reform, some things must give way.{{more}}

We keep harping about the poor performances of our young athletes in general, yet we complain, whine and compound the situation year after year by organizing school tournaments with absolutely little or no development structures in place.

And, as the new academic year gets going, the authorities will be itchy to once again stage another Secondary Schools’ Football Tournament.

It may just be a good idea for them to shelve such arrangements. Instead, use the period to train the young footballers in all aspects of the sports, enhance their athleticism, and come good next year.

For years we waste the August vacations, which could be used as the training and conditioning period. Then at the stroke of September, make preparations, rush a competition, declare winners, give out trophies, but the display on the fields is far from desirable.

The reason – there is hardly any methodical approach towards moving the footballers from one phase to the other.

A suspension of the annual exercise may just be one of the tonics needed to help resuscitate that aspect of school sports.

But are we willing to make such a bold move?

Similarly, the current league football system is in total chaos, as it is a free for all. The one club/team, two leagues rule has gone with the wind.

Footballers are revelling in the lax situation. From my recollection, it has been the worst since the ruling came into being some years ago.

Will the Executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) be bold enough to support the leagues that suspend players who run the ruling foul?

Has the local governing body the guts to put a halt to some of the league operations which allow players who are not duly transferred?

It was done in the past. Or maybe they are saying what has gone wrong cannot be fixed.

Likewise, national senior cricket selectors, Clarence Thomas, Stanley Hinds, Selwyn Allen, Carlos Veira, along with appointed Captain Linden James, may have cowered when they named this country’s team for the Windwards senior cricket tournament, set for Dominica.

Perhaps the selectors lost their faculties temporarily when they came up with a 13-member team. To me, their decisions exemplify a lack of vision and a maintenance of the status quo.

The team selected includes: three openers, all right handed, two middle order batsmen, one right handed and the other left, and a wicket keeper batsman.

But the imbalance lies in the bowling department, with three leg spinners, three left arm medium pacers and a right arm medium fast bowler.

The sameness of the bowling shows that the selectors were afraid of blooding another totally inexperienced player or players at this level.

There may have been some hesitation, caution or horse trading, one never knows, that led to the non-inclusion of two of the most talented teenaged batsmen in left handed Atticus Browne and the right handed Sunil Ambris in the touring party.

Can these players with potential get experience by taking their seats in the pavilions?

Mind you, there was not much to choose from, as it was a case of six of one, half-a-dozen of the other, but at least it is time that bold steps be taken to select on potential rather than past performances.

The latter has not worked for the past five years.

As it stands, the batting line up will look more like a tadpole than anything else.

But the decisions of the selectors mirror those of the Executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association, which continuously displays a lack of foresight.

While these are the happenings of just two of the major sports in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the fear of taking the bull by the horn, exists in other disciplines, giving rise to the general malaise.

What is not relenting is this column’s continuous call for the authorities to rethink their decision to erect that “Mound” at the Sion Hill Playing Field.