The real objectives of our World Cup campaign

Since entering the fray of football’s biggest show (The World Cup) in 1992, St Vincent and the Grenadines has been part of each four-year campaign.

Except for the 2008 experience, when we were ousted by Canada, St Vincent and the Grenadines has advanced to the group stage of the CONCACAF set-up and no further.{{more}}

On each occasion, we have faltered when we came up against the Central American oppositions.

Arguably, though, one of our best showings in all of the outings was in 2004, when we matched the likes of Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and defeated St Kitts and Nevis in both legs.

Over the years, we have moved from an 11-0 banging from the Mexicans in 1992, to a one-nil defeat here in October 2004.

This was with one of the better units ever to be assembled. By accident or by design, several members of that team were part of the national team 10 years prior and would have matured then.

More so, some were part of a professional set, while others went on to become such.

So, here we are again in 2015, setting out to go on another World Cup sojourn.

The journey commences when Vincy Heat, the brand name of the senior men’s team, face Guyana on June 10 here and June 14 in Guyana, as both seek to get past each other and into the group phase.

However, is this first stage a structured means towards maximizing the benefits of being involved in the campaign?

The question will always remain, as successive football executives have not expounded on the objectives of contesting the quadrennial undertaking.

This is against the reality that it is an expensive venture to travel to the various destinations, once the team gets through to the group phase.

But are we satisfied with getting to the next round of the qualifications and accepting it as the highest attainable feat for us?

Our perennial piece-meal approach, whereby tangible preparations start a few months before the first engagement, leads to a response in the affirmative.

Then, is it enough to acquire the benefits of television rights, FIFA funding and that temporary spike in the tourism when the international teams come our way?

Or is it simply enough for those who have never heard of St Vincent and the Grenadines to get a brief history of our beloved land?

Are we looking down the road towards using the opportunities presented during the World Cup campaigns to see how many of our players can be exported?

Are we seriously embracing the thought that St Vincent and the Grenadines can reach the World Cup?

Realistically, it is indeed a pipe dream, if anyone really harbours that thought.

Those from this part of the Caribbean who have made it: Cuba, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, have had superior football structures, larger economies, larger populations and of critical importance, definitive sporting backgrounds and cultures, which afforded them to carve out the journey to the final of the football’s most prestigious showcase.

It then leads to reason that the natural talents of our players can only take St Vincent and the Grenadines to the group stage.

Even the injection of foreign technical directors and head coaches could not take us to the hexagonal phase.

Those who have tried their hand were Jorge Ramos, Bertille St Clair, Lennie Taylor, the Aide Shaw/Cess Podd combination, Zoran Vranes, Stewart John Hall and most recently Colwyn Rowe.

It is noticeable that the current executive of the SVGFF, since 2012, has not ventured outside these shores and has stuck with the configuration of technical director – Keith Ollivierre and head coach – Cornelius Huggins.

A wait and see approach is the best one can do at this juncture, as we await the outcome of the showdown with Guyana, Vincy Heat’s first hurdle.

However, something must give and a definitive objective be pursued for future World Cup excursions.

At present there is a pool of reasonable young players who have another 10 to 15 years of national football service in them.

And, in tandem in the other age groups: Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17, parallel programmes must take root to ensure meaningful progression and reason to merit us making a bid for extending our run in the CONCACAF zone.

Unless an ordered harnessing of their talents is encouraged, the cycle of repetition will be in place come 2019, when the qualifiers come round again.