Do the right thing

The decision by the president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Volleyball Association (SVGVA), Alana Mc Master, to fast-forward the association’s elections must be lauded.

The notification to all concerned with volleyball here in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) was sent out sometime last month, indicating that elections would take place July 16 at The Grenadine House.{{more}}

This, in effect, will cut short by a year and four months, the term of the current executive.

What then may have triggered such an abrupt move?

Surely, it cannot be a single factor, but a series of events which would have led to this type of move.

As head of the SVGVA, Mc Master seemed to have run out of steam and rightly so, is willing to give up the post and hand it over to someone who has the tenacity, the patience to deal with the sport in a more efficacious manner.

Signs are that since taking the reins of the association since November 2013, it has not been a smooth ride, as internal bickering and personality clashes have plagued the organization.

Critical too, volleyball is not one of the sporting disciplines with mass support and a large catchment of players; hence, it is easier for fallouts to be more conspicuous.

Under Mc Master’s watch, there were not any major activities, such as a vibrant national club competition, which would have added some spunk to the sport.

But it was not all on the downside, as she ensured that St Vincent and the Grenadines got some technical assistance through the procurement of coaches, which, in the main, are run-of-the-mill happenings.

Also, Mc Master oversaw the erection of the sport court at the Girls’ High School. The court was sourced by her predecessor, Eardley Martin.

On her own though, she got a second court from NORCECA, the regional confederation, but this is still waiting to be laid down, because of bureaucratic hold-ups.

On the court, St Vincent and the Grenadines topped the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) male Youth Tournament, held in St Maarten last year, which earned the team a spot in the Continental Championships in Canada this week, into next week.

Another plus gained by Mc Master’s leadership is greater effort to have St Vincent and the Grenadines represented on the NORCECA Beach Volleyball circuit.

Coming to the point of acknowledgement that one has had enough, or one is not the best person suited for the job, especially among our sports administrators, is probably the hardest and most painful act of humility to make.

But at least one person has and others should take a cue and do likewise.

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Amateur Body Building Power Lifting and Fitness Federation (SVGBBPFF) Korean Williams is one such person who should follow Mc Master’s lead and do the right thing.

Unlike the SVGVA, which will cut short its tenure, the SVGBBPFF‘s is overdue. Williams and her cohorts were elected in March 2011, and what have they done to muscle up the sport?

Surely, no one even remembers anything about the SVGBBPFF in the last five years, as nothing is there to recall.

Williams, soon after her re-election, had this to say to SEARCHLIGHT: “We plan to hold seminars and workshops, and I am sure that when the executive meets, our plans will come together and you will see bodybuilding moving forward as before.”

She also said that part of the plan is to get bodybuilding in the schools, piggy-backing on the popular cheerleading, which, according to her, could be a form of kiddy fitness.

It is 2016 and none of the plans have seen the light of day, yet Williams still wants to lead the cortege to the sport’s final resting place, having already overseen and fast-forwarded its demise, read the eulogy, as well as the tributes.

There are others like Williams who are holding their national associations to ransom, compliments their ineptitude and pigheadedness, but are afraid to do the right thing and remove themselves.