The growing challenges of sports

The growing status of sports worldwide of sports as an economic and social force has brought with it certain complexities.

Gone are the days when insufficient funding of teams, a lack of sponsorship and inadequate or sub-standard facilities were the main issues confronting sports.{{more}}

The challenges and problems of sports are mounting and as with everything else, immunization against the vagaries has eluded the St Vincent and the Grenadines’ scheme of things.

Ours, though, whilst not widespread, cannot be brushed aside as being minuscule and insignificant. Therefore, the steady decline in female participation in sports must not be isolated as a drought, which would soon go away, then a bountiful harvest would come with time.

This should never be the thinking, as the lessening of female numbers in sports cuts across all sporting disciplines.

Recent local tennis and squash tournaments, even at the junior level, saw a marked absence of the females. This is against the reality that over the years, tennis’ demise has been all-round, thus resulting in a trickledown effect.

Also taking the blow is track and field, which is struggling to keep the females in the sport beyond the age of 20.

And, for whatever cause, there was no female component of the just concluded Standard Shippers/KPMG National Table Tennis Tournament.

Quickly and readily, the obvious causes to be reasoned will be that at that age the females become self-conscious of their physique and the demands of job seeking and the social enticements which present themselves.

This dragnet in the downturn of female entrants and interest has not escaped the team sports which also are suffering.

Notwithstanding that within the various sporting disciplines, netball is the main engagement for women, this sport is enduring its own pain of attracting more females to stick with it for any considerable length of time.

This sport has its inherent and acquired debilitating factors, which although not unique, cannot be remedied with a carte blanche prescription as with other disciplines.

The challenge, however, comes from the emerging involvement of females in cricket and football. The two are fending off the damning public perception that those sports are for females who have a sexual preference for the same gender.

Whilst no one has publicly declared her status, the sport is bleeding from a failure to restock with new faces, as the stigma and labelling have pierced the core of recruitment with repelling conviction.

Parents are known to object to their daughters venturing into either sport, given the nature of the widespread stain, confirmed or unfounded, driving a further wedge between those who possess some interest.

Unfortunately too, the same occurs with male sports, as parents are reluctant to have certain coaches have any contact with their sons.

Previously, the situation was reversed, as male coaches were not always welcomed among female sportswomen.

No longer are our coaches, both male and female seen as mothers, fathers, or big brothers and big sisters who would care for those under their care.

It then ends as a case of running from the jumbie, only to meet up on the coffin.

But there are others who have faced the challenges with greater proportions than ours and have employed measures to reduce the impact of the fall-outs.

These methods of recourse, however, were practical in those societies with more liberal mind-sets and where cultural practices are more open and accepted.

Like others, the Vincentian social matrix is forever mapping itself out and down the road the eyebrow raisers and cross-eyed issues would be dealt with differently.

For now, though, hopefully the challenges should be seen as secondary and the main aim is getting the best of who we have competing and let the sideshows take care of themselves.

Such circumstances are inevitable and should be viewed as temporary road blocks and impediments to the progress of sports here.

Therefore, whilst critical, they should not be an excuse for those who are willing and able not to give of their time, energy and expertise to the sport to which he or she is best suited; but rather they find the courage to control the variables within their powers and accept that they are helpless with those which are beyond their reach.