WISG – Another run-of-the-mill?

Can it now be concluded that St Vincent and the Grenadines’ (SVG) participation in/attendance at the annual CBN/ Winlott Inc Windward Islands Schools’ Games (WISG) is a facade and an exercise in wasting scarce financial resources?

Yes, SVG was part of the yearly exercise which concluded last Saturday in Grenada.{{more}}

The contingent left and obviously returned with little national fanfare, despite them being representatives of SVG in sport.

When the official statistics were completed and released, they showed SVG tied with Dominica for the third place, behind host Grenada and St Lucia in that order.

In the multidiscipline games, SVG placed top in male volleyball, which was an expected outcome.

This was tailor-made, as the team featured a large chunk of the players who contested the NORCECA Under-21 championships in Canada last month and basically the team has been together since 2014.

SVG’s next best effort was a second place in female volleyball, while in football, netball and male basketball, they finished third.

And, as per usual, in track and field and female basketball, they chased the other three territories in their outings.

In recent times, SVG has lost its way, which is reflective in the results of the various disciplines.

Times past, one could have put his/her pot on the fire and be sure that the netball and football titles were SVG’s.

The present sation, however, is reflective of the grander scheme of things locally, as both disciplines in the last decade have nosedived in performance; hence, what is netted at the WISG stage mirrors what is put in place on the ground here.

But traditionally, basketball and track and field have occupied the lower tiers in the pecking order of expectations, and this year, there were no exceptions, as the females took the rightful position.

Overall though, little value is put on the WISG by the authorities responsible for SVG’s participation, which, in this instance, is the Ministry of Education.

Save and except the carrying out of the logistical duties, the paperwork and the other administrative obligations, there is not a designed path plotted towards achieving success.

On the contrary, Grenada, St Lucia and Dominica have all placed a price on competing in the games and craft the template for their islands being among the contenders in some of the disciplines.

They announce their training squads early; there are several public announcements of their participation and follow ups via various forms of media outlets.

Simply Google the others and there is literature on their 2016 participation in Grenada.

The same cannot be said of SVG, as it was a hush-hush affair as to the team that was travelling. If it was done, then it was not for public consumption.

Is it a case of that ministry being incapable of handing such added load and ultimately responsibility?

If it is so, then the whole configuration of the way sports in the schools is administered and executed has to be reshaped.

Notwithstanding such administrative realities, there are some teething factors which have plagued the Vincentian end perennially.

There is no structured approach towards getting the right blend of players to fit the respective disciplines, as the opposite is more often than not fully in place.

Team selection is devoid of any clear-cut policy on the composition of the final squads, as sentiments and favouritism take charge over merit.

Similarly, team coaches as well are compromised for the same reasons.

Blended, the results at the end of the games are the mostly likely, barring some stroke of luck or blessings of talented crops of players.

This year’s participation has already gone to bed and the report on SVG’s attendance will be forwarded to the relevant authorities, as formalities dictate.

Things are already back to square one, but there will be a frenetic hype and chirp as 2017 breaks.

Why, you guessed it right; SVG will again host, as the cycle reaches our way again.

One would certainly envisage the antics and hear of the plans, projections and how meaningful the WISG are to the youth population and all the other verbal trappings which come with such occasions.

There will be those who will be crawling out from the cracks and crevices and show themselves as important in the lead up to and during the hosting of the 2017 WISG edition.

The challenge though, is out to the Vincentian authorities who matter, to prove to this column otherwise, that through their own handiwork, they have moulded the SVG’s participation at the WISG into a meaningless run-of-the-mill happening.