Not business as usual

As we usher in 2011, it cannot be business as usual in the way sports in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is viewed and administered.

For sure, if the status quo is to remain, we might as well see sports as recreational, and stay quiet and just have fun.{{more}}

All sports associations should make New Year resolutions to do better than last year. And, for those who have done nothing at all, they should at least try get up and be counted.

There are also the mass sporting disciplines which impact most on the public that are to lead the way and set the trend as we all strive for excellence.

I speak candidly of Football, Cricket, Athletics, and Netball.

Certainly, none of them can say that 2010 was in any way close to their best.

The “Game of the People”, Football, seemingly has the greatest hurdles to mount, as the sport, despite the trappings designed by the Executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, is not making the strides that it ought to.

Last year must go down as one of the worst years in Football history, as our national teams have been abysmal, to say the least. Neither came close to impacting on the competitions in which they were engaged.

The Women’s team, the Under-17 male team, the male Under-20 outfit, and the Senior national male team all failed to show the wares this nation has been accustomed to enjoy.

So, President Joseph Delves and company need to find ways and means to inject life into Football, as it is fast reverting to be a pastime – a sweat.

The National Club Championships continue to be a non starter, with both spectators and players alike.

Delves, your Executive possesses some administrative pedigree, but as a leader, you have not pulled it all together to get the right results on and off the field.

So, it cannot be business as usual in the next couple of months of your tenure, as it is also the year for elections for a new Executive.

Likewise, Cricket has been locked into just having its annual competitions, the Zonal Under-19, the Senior Women’s Competition, the Zonal Under-19, the National Lotteries Authority Neil Williams T/20 and the RBTT Premier Division as well as the First Division.

What else is there to show on the Report Card of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association, except to say that the competitions were held?

The SVGCA progressively is getting worse in structuring its programme geared towards the systematic development of players.

Can’t we see that fewer players are earning places on the Windwards team? Is it because we are leaving the development of young talent to chance, then gloating when some come through on their own talent and will?

What has become of the development plan rolled out some years ago?

So for the SVGCA, it also cannot be business as usual in 2011.

Apart from the annual Inter School Meet, the local meets such as the Relay Classics, the Juvenile Championships, the Kids in Athletics, The Talent Identification Programme, the road and cross country races, Athletics struggles to keep pace with the other regional countries.

There is no shortage of courses, training and capacity building, yet attraction to Athletics beyond the school age is almost like kicking against a brick wall.

Yes, there is and will always be obstacles preventing success, but that is also the case with other disciplines.

So you, too, have to put your minds together in getting back the attraction the sport once had.

Joining in the loop is Netball, which continues to fade in significance, as fewer of our young ladies are getting involved. Whilst there are many competitions, it is more or less the same persons who are involved.

We are out of the running on the senior regional stage; our Under-23 team is no longer a dominant force in the sub region, neither is our Under-16 in the wider Caribbean; and except for Maple winning the OECS Champion of Champions Club Competition, little success has come Netball’s way in 2010.

This has to be the year of commitment and decision for the administrators of Netball, otherwise, depart.

It cannot be business as usual for the continued presence of the Mound at the Sion Hill Playing Field.