Reset that Netball clock

FOR THE BETTER part of two decades there have been incessant calls for a national turn around as it relates to the state of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Netball.

During this period, there have been much debates, concerns raised and sentiments ventilated, as many stakeholders have come to the realization that we are not where we ought to be .

In fact, it should be better stated- how did St Vincent and the Grenadines get to a place in regional Netball?, that warranted national discussions.

But that it the current situation, a situation that has been left unattended. Now things are beginning to get from bad to worse, with better seemingly very distant on the horizon.

The recent scores in the inaugural Caribbean Games held in Guadeloupe further exacerbates the worrisome condition of our Netball stock.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was trounced by Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Jamaica.

A reminder of the scores show the Trinidadians winning 51-15, while the Barbadians overcame the Vincentians 59-10. Jamaica strolled past them 65-18.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was also defeated by St Lucia 43-24.

The lone triumph for the Vincentians was a 70-3 win against newcomers to Netball host country, Guadeloupe.

Whilst it is a given that the big three, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados in that order are ahead of St Vincent and the Grenadines, the margins of defeat must be some cause for concern.

Similarly is the almost persistent inability of our netballers at the Under-23 level in the last decade to notch up wins on a regular basis against St Lucia.

The rot that the sport has found itself in is too protracted, and regression at the wider Caribbean level continues to go unchecked.

Whilst from the get go no one expected the Vincentian lasses to go to Guadeloupe and blow away all comers, the results were worse than the acceptable defeats.

Again, it is time for the Netball clock to be reset as it has been alarming for an inordinate period and no one has answered the wake up call.

Realistically, one will not be advocating an immediate turn around in St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Netball, but at least there must be some semblance of our players being willing to compete and more so, show that they belong among the ranked teams on World Netball’s list.

Nothing can be undone from what has gone before,therefore the future is that controllable variable at this juncture.

There has to be a concerted effort within the primary schools to have the sport on a sounder footing rather than its persistent devaluation.

This must be coupled with the various area committees that host Netball competitions. Please stop doing so mainly as fund raising ventures.

It is high time that area tournaments have development pathways to ensure that the sport is taught at the pre-teen level.

We thus see many young girls gravitating towards football which is traditionally a male sport.

Has one ever stopped and reflected, why is this an emerging phenomenon? Simply, the football authorities have decidedly and strategically taken the sport to the youngsters.

With this being the case, are most of our Netball personnel both at the club and national level, able to proudly hold their hands up and be counted as having a structured element that ensures continuity in Netball? Yes, there are a handful of former netballers who try to keep some of our young girls in tune with the rudiments of the sport. Kudos and commendations to the few labourers who do, but there is need for more.

Many of our top clubs/ teams are guilty of not paying attention to Netball’s youth structure. Similarly the various executives of the SVG Netball Association

over the years have been monumental failures in this regard.

The ‘chirpings’ and the lamentations of Netball must be halted, not by more talk, but by decisive actions beginning NOW!