Striving for that balance

One of the local sporting issues making the rounds last week was the planned imposition of user fees for the use of playing fields here in St Vincent and the Grenadines which are under the aegis of the National Sports Council (NSC).{{more}}

The fact of the matter is that user fees for the facilities have been in place for some time, however, their imposition turned out to be­ discretionary calls for previous NSC’s managers.

But change is always met with opposition and current manager Jomadean May now becomes the big bad wolf, in his attempt to fashion his leadership style in the execution of his duties.

That is the way the cookie crumbles when one is given such a task at this juncture of our local psyche.

The reality of the situation is that the NSC has 63 playing fields and an additional 56 hard courts strewn across St Vincent and the Grenadines under its care.

At the end of the equation, there is no revenue stream flowing into the administrative centre of the NSC.

Except for rental of its main facilities at Arnos Vale for local and regional events, as well as the few and far between international cricket and football matches and religious and social events, there is a trickle of finances.

Heavy dependency then rests on the subvention from the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) and central government. It is widely known that the NLA’s mandate of supporting sports and culture here has been extended to include various aspects of community and national development. This has meant that the original pie of the NLA has become smaller and smaller, as there are greater demands now on the table.

Conversely, since the upgrade of the main facility at Arnos Vale, Sion Hill and Stubbs, when substantial funds from the national budget were spent ahead of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, little has been done by the board of the NSC to create platforms to ensure funds are realized, especially from the showpiece ground.

The end result is the upkeep of all facilities is being compromised and continuous fallouts with some stakeholders.

The financial state of the NSC reached the national ears sometime last year, as there was a big hue and cry when, for two fortnights, workers experienced difficulty in obtaining their wages. Over time, things have come to a crossroad and the challenges of caring for all playing facilities and hard courts has received eagle-eyed scrutiny by many persons.

Equally, there are persons who are bent on wantonly vandalizing these facilities, thus compounding the circumstances.

So, how can the balancing act be performed in light of the demands for sporting facilities, while on the other hand battling the adverse economic conditions, which are blowing with some unkind velocity?

Something must give, one way or the other, as the NSC’s personnel and its facilities cannot run on water.

This is against the backdrop that it is clear that there are and will be persons, agencies and national associations who would always want to have the best of both worlds, free of cost.

We also have grown accustomed to getting everything for nothing, so much so, user fees are like bad words.

Such freedom is not afforded even some of our Caribbean neighbours, whose premier sports venues are like sacred grounds.

Here, one can walk through the gates of our facilities and simply relax, take a jog, get the privilege of WiFi or even charge your electronic devices.

Any attempts to curtail such will be met by the fear of possible political repercussions, interferences and preferences, as sometimes it only takes a telephone call to a higher-up to get a waiver.

What then should be the most suitable set of charges for the use of the NSC facilities?

How much are associations and other users willing to pay, or should these facilities be free, at the expense of other sections of the national economic and social programmes?

Are the user fees, which were proposed over eight years ago, still applicable in light of increased maintenance cost and the like?

The NSC, too, in its quest to sustain those sporting facilities, must offload some of its responsibilities by reviving the area committees, as its micro management is surely not working.

This will enable the administrative staff to spend more on the main venues and not spread themselves thin.

Also, ways and means must be pursued to make the preferred facilities at least take care of themselves.

There is no room for friction and contention over user fees for our sporting facilities, as they are necessary for their upkeep and enhancement.