No big deal ?

The announcement last Monday by the National Sports Council of the cancellation of the 2015 National Sports Awards ceremony might neither be here nor there with many persons who follow sports here.

To some, the cancellation was the most practical solution for the council, as it thumbed the poor response of national associations to the call for submissions of nominations.{{more}} This is against the reported extensions of deadlines, which has become a normal practice, as there are always the stragglers.

But the council would have been damned in any case if it had attempted to go ahead with the awards ceremony, as it would have certainly been farcical.

It is pointless to start the usual fingering of who is to blame for the state of affairs, as all the parties involved must say whether or not the attempt to reward the nation’s sportsmen and sportswomen, sports journalists, national associations and others is worth the while.

In searching for the truth, what is transpiring with the sports awards are functional deficiencies, which are inherent in the marrow of the sports anatomy of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Therefore, the national sports awards will simply fall into place as the continuum goes unchecked.

In fact, the ceremony in recent times has not occupied pride of place of many of the active players, the sports people and the associations.

And there are many factors which have contributed to this languid approach towards its hosting.

With the awards shelved for two years until it returned to acknowledge the performances for 2013 and 2014, it would not be a hard done occurrence.

Additionally, the awards have been riddled with issues of judging criteria which find favour with and are acceptable and plausible to all concerned.

Added to the lack of credence to the annual undertaking is that some national associations, by their own actions, have accelerated its demise.

They, in a quest to earn plaudits, have either padded or falsified their information forwarded to the judging panels.

That being established as fact, it is an indictment on the sporting framework of St Vincent and the Grenadines and all the mouthing which sometimes accompanies the droplets of national successes.

Such further relegates sports down the ladder of social acceptance as an integral part of national development.

But as the stakeholders grapple with trying to mend the pieces together and devise a solution to fix the negating influences which plague the awards ceremony, the signs are not encouraging.

Recovering lost ground will be a long and arduous task; to have the ceremony become glitzy will take herculean efforts.

Among the prerequisites is again getting into the locals’ psyche that the awards are meaningful and the most likely route is the enticement of attractive financial rewards.

As it stands now, it is no big deal for the individual winners of the main categories of adjudication to purse $1,200.

Notwithstanding, the accolade, a place in local sports history, the media publicity and limelight and the like are the real deal, with the prize monies being “peanut change”.

Whilst many may agree this should not be the case, as recognition should be worth its weight in gold, this is simply the reality of today’s thinking.

If, therefore, it is agreed that the awards ceremony will continue, then a comprehensive overhaul of all facets of the process must be the next step.

Indentifying the pitfalls, the stumbling blocks and the other grey areas and addressing them with urgency have to be the panacea.

The worst thing, though, is for the National Sports Awards to be deleted from the national sporting calendar.

If this is realized, then it may not be a big deal to many, as there is no significance attached to its hosting.