Adding meaning to awards ceremonies

A few of this country’s national sporting organizations have found it necessary to host their internal awards and recognition ceremonies.

Among those which have taken on the task are track and field, cricket and cycling.{{more}}

Commendable it is that members of these associations can look forward to another occasion in which their performances are highlighted.

Rightfully, efforts are made by the headships to ensure that date set aside for the recognition contains some sort of panache and a time worthy of its meaning.

However, it seems that such significance has not trickled down to the prospective recipients, who from the outside, seem to have trivialized such undertakings.

Even though their rewards are in the main some trophies and in the case of cricket, a monetary token, a tangible recompense for the efforts in themselves should be embraced.

Also the winners get another opportunity to be featured in the newspapers and on television, thus upping their profile and popularity.

In the three disciplines mentioned above, there is not that conspicuous urge to be among the best performers in the fields for which adjudications are made.

Unfortunate as it may appear, but that is simply the way it is.

But the trickle down effect then emerges at the fore at the national level, the National Sports Awards.

Our sportsmen and women have an apparent disinterest on the national event; hence, questions are frequently asked about the eventual choices in the various categories.

But that is the hard core reality, that being named the Junior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, the Senior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, or the overall Sports Personality of the Year, holds little significance.

No one is taking that extra plunge to ensure that his or her performance outdoes his or her opponent’s and be among the candidates for the awards.

There is a school of thought which states that the fact that there are no significant financial returns in the offing for the national accolades, dictates the magnitude of importance which the athletes attach to the event.

But should it always dictate that extrinsic motivation is the determining factor towards better sporting performances?

On the contrary, one is confident that better and ultimately exceptional efforts by the sportsmen and women, would fuel the move in the upward direction.

Many are making comparisons of what occurs in our Caribbean countries with comparatively larger economies than we possess, and expect the national authorities to match it or even surpass it.

The fact is within the circumstances, it may not be practical.

All, however, cannot be levelled on those who are on their stage — the playing fields, the courts or the squared circle, or on whatever arena the competition is staged.

Authorities, too, have to play their part by continuously adding greater meaning and value to their events, beginning with the individual associations, which should follow the course on to the national landscape.

What is feasible is for all concerned to see sports more than what is perceived to be.

This could well be one of the root causes why the level of efforts is where it is at this juncture.

Do we have to win an Olympic medal or reach the World Cup before that impetus is put in place on that integral social factor of our life?

Rewards are the outward appreciation for what has been achieved, but more can be attained if sports is placed near the top of the heap of the list of national priorities.