The best and worst of both worlds

St Vincent and the Grenadines continues to ride the tide of football success with the latest being the Under-23 men’s team reaching the semi-final stage of the Caribbean Football Union’s Zone Olympic qualifiers.

At this country’s recent outing in Puerto Rico, a 2-2 draw with the host and 5-3 downing of regional power house Trinidad and Tobago set St Vincent and the Grenadines to the last four.{{more}}

An engagement with Haiti next month at a venue to be determined by CFU is the Vincentians next agenda item.

Kudos are in order for those who have planned and executed the team’s journey thus far.

The rush-rush, but successful tie here in May versus Dominica set the pathway for the group stage.

But playing unbeaten in Puerto Rico must be lauded as the team had its travails, which almost saw them booted out of the competition, as visas and flight issues must have swarmed the players’ psychological being.

The good fortunes of the Under-23 players came despite another unstructured and undetermined process to the stage.

Not because these unplanned approaches have worked to our good means that they are correct and should be documented as a blueprint.

What is keeping us going is that we possess a rich talent pool of footballers, who have come through their community programmes, which have filled the plates of the national menu.

The trumpeting is deafening, as officials at the national level have become gluttons with the relative success and boast that a palatable diet was put in place.

Fortunately, several members of the present stock of the Under-23 team have fit in as staples in the senior team or vice versa as is really the case.

Of course, this is a great position to be in, as it ensures that continuity is there, if properly managed and harnessed.

Making the best of what is available to us at present is paramount for sustainability as well as providing this pool with the necessary skill set for football and for their future endeavours.

Let us not fool ourselves, for many of the players, the sport is their lifeline, hence creating the environment for their personal development should be part of the national football administration’s role.

This could only be done through strong-willed management, whose task in the interim should be to attempt to mould them and teach them that they are ambassadors of the sports for St Vincent and the Grenadines, not representatives of themselves or their respective locales.

Yes, this can be done with some measure of success, but slighting such matters have become embedded in the scheme of things for those who hold the reins of authority of the sport here.

The elected and selected men and woman who make up the team of national administrators continue to trivialise events which can be embarrassments to the sport and to the nation as a whole.

They are making the worst of a situation whereby they erred in their duties of judiciously fulfilling all of the obligations of eligibility for English born Gavin James to represent St Vincent and the Grenadines in the recent World Cup Qualifiers with Guyana, June 10 and 14.

Whatever emerges from the Guyana Football Federation’s protest over James’ eligibility, it would reflect incompetence on the part of the SVGFF’s secretariat.

This column continues to bellow the call for professionalism on those who are paid to run the office on a daily basis.

The business of football is no longer a roadside hawker or some village mauby shop; hence administrative aptitude is a prerequisite.

So much for that matter until FIFA makes its ruling and let us raise a toast of commendation to the Under-23 footballers and their coaching/technical team. They deserve to sap up their earned moment of national sporting spotlight.

A place of celebration should be reserved for them, even as St Vincent and the Grenadines pumps up the revelry and merriment of Carnival celebrations, which climax next Tuesday.

A peaceful, restful and enjoyable Carnival period to all !!!!