My wish list

“If wishes were horses, beggars will ride”.

However, making wishes and hoping that they come into fruition can be an optimistic adventure that is worthy of pursuance.

My first wish is that government and its other directive arms will as a matter of policy make sports a priority.{{more}}

This wish extends that this country gets a Minister of Sports and not a Sports Minister; one who loves sports and not one who only talks about sports.

Likewise, the attending directors and policy makers should ensure that sports is institutionalized, especially in the nation’s schools. Not the one which is in train at this time, where today is one thing, tomorrow is another.

And when school principals either do not carry out directives as set by the relative ministries or act with autonomy, according to their preferences and the mood they may be in for the day.

Additionally, that all sporting associations should rid themselves of their self-inflicted wounds and apply the corrective applications of healing, as many are suffering from an overdose of a lack of commitment.

Naked of glory, most are clothed in issues of interpersonal differences.

As On Target tosses its coin in the wishing well, more than ever the wish is that some place be found to have sports like Netball, Volleyball, Basketball and Boxing get an indoor facility. Too long have these disciplines suffered from the natural elements and have toiled relentlessly on the hard asphalt, much to the detriment of the knees, ankles and other body parts of players.

I also wish that volunteerism, that once noble act which made the administration of sports in St. Vincent and the Grenadines an envy of others organizations, be once again part of our upbringing and wedged in our psyche.

No longer do people want to give of their services without the appending financial commensuration, then you know almost all have fallen. Many who have gained much from sports are culprits, too, as they sit on their knowledge and expertise and are unwilling to pass them on.

Likewise, it is my wish that our athletes will recognise that being involved in sports that they are not doing anyone a favour but themselves. They must realize that national representation is an honourable service and an ambassadorial privilege that many of better ability before them only dreamt of experiencing.

Another wish is for sportsmen and women to acknowledge that those who have gone before them have been there, done that, and have some worthwhile advice to keep them on the straight and narrow path, and ultimately assist in their progress.

Too, that discipline, fair play and the respect for officials return to the survival kit of these sportsmen and women.

Also making the wish list is that we see the return of real clubs, not the fly-by-night units only connected by a name and devoid of passion and that spirit of longevity.

Here today, gone tomorrow has been the new style for many who have the audacity to call themselves clubs.

Enlisted is the need for true moral support and a return to large crowds at the various sporting events, whether at the local, regional or international levels.

A call for maturity on the part of sports administrators finds itself on the On Target wish list.

Like babies afraid of water or the dark, they whine and throw tantrums every time criticisms of their pitfalls are exposed. I wish that these administrators get a cloak of hardened skin to shelter themselves, as undoubtedly they can expect more from all quarters once they put themselves up for public scrutiny.

It is not wishful thinking, but a list of wishes that are prerequisites if sports is to advance in our blessed nation.

Remaining a permanent wish is the removal of that “Mound” at the Sion Hill Playing Field.