Our own enemies

Far too often, St. Vincent and the Grenadines loses many of its promising young sportsmen and women through self destruction of one kind or another.

Some turn to substance abuse, get with the wrong crowd, whilst others simply get disillusioned.{{more}}

Others, through lack of focus, their inability to cope with the demands of life, and other mitigating factors, fall by the way side.

And, there are many who become too big for their boots at the turn of a single good performance, or the achievement of some national accolade, and become lost in a forest of false praise and ill advice from their peers, their coaches and those with direct contact with them.

The latter reason is fast becoming the order of the day, as many seniors are unable to tell our sportsmen and women the harsh reality of what is needed to be a success in their field of endeavour.

Instead, many go the route of sugar coating the guidance given to their charges, which leads to a route of under-achievement, and ultimately failure.

This falsehood of mentorship comes to the fore, especially when national representative teams are selected, or when certain rewards are dished out.

The rumblings which follow point to the myopic view many hold for sports and its development, rather than the holistic achievement for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

It is common for managers and coaches of teams to question the selection panel, when his or player(s) is/are not selected for national duties.

None of the major sports are exempted from this sort of happening.

Cricket, reports say, has been the latest association where questions are being asked about the selection of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Twenty/20 team to the Windwards competition in Dominica, which was set to begin yesterday.

Logic seems to be alien, as little objectivity is employed when one’s players are given the perceived rotten end of the proverbial stick.

Selectors are often accosted for not selecting certain players, some with personal abuse. In fact, some high authorities have even joined the fray, and become embroiled in such actions.

Are we not setting up the said player(s) for a fall and creating Cinderella status among them?

Selectors like all of us are humans, and will have shortcomings.

But what is significant, many, in their criticisms of the selectors, are unable to justify the non-selection of the players under review.

The role of managers and coachers is being limited to the teaching of the art of a particular sport, but the youngsters should be taught life skills, including being able to withstand disappointment.

Additionally, the said coaches and managers go as far as debarring their charges from competing in certain events in reactionary methods for their dissatisfaction.

But the media at times contributes to the false image some sportsmen and women have of themselves.

Media personnel, some unwittingly, are quick to label our promising athletes (used here generally) with titles, as soon as they have attained some consistent performances.

More care should be taken, as labels can lift the unsuspecting young minds, inflate their egos to heights that can be hard to maintain.

The recent reference to Carifta representative Brandon Parris as a “sensation” is a good case point.

The youngster is yet to attain any great success, and such a label can lead to his belief that he has already attained stardom.

Likewise, local sports commentators, especially in Cricket, laud our players as having scored a “brilliant 30”. This only seeks to heighten the players’ misguided concept that he or she has done well.

We become our own enemies, the promoters of mediocrity, and the architects of sub-standards, when such under par achievements are given media prominence.

Here, stars are made out of starlights.

In fact, media houses need to develop standards as to the minimum levels of performance which will make their sportscasts or the pages of their newspapers.

Such directives will not only lift the profile of players, but let them be aware that only good will be accepted.

The presence of the Mound at the Sion Hill Playing Field is also its own enemy to the development of that sporting facility.