Giving John his blazer

This column cannot help but to again laud the efforts of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College’s Sports Programme that gives rise to the institution’s annual Sports Awards, in lieu of standout performance during the academic year.

Therefore, when the 2025 edition, the fourth of such annual undertakings was held on Thursday, June 19, 2025 at the SVGCC’s Hospitality and Maritime Training Institute, located at Diamond, it was another exhibition of exponential growth in planning, acceptance, and execution of the event.

Sixteen categories were adjudicated, accentuating the scope of the college’s programme.

At present the college hosts Football, Cricket, Table Tennis, Basketball, Volleyball as well as Track and Field Championships.

Therefore, the annual awards reflect the reach and appeal that the competitions have, not only on the students, but also on those who get the honour of being part of the various events on the year-long calendar.

Many may scoff at the idea of the college extending participation beyond the walls of the institution, as the competitions are by and large, invitational.

That is traded off with the fact that it provides the students with better competition and reciprocally, the invitees get additional exposure, along with a different platform and that outlet to build and blood new talents.

In the case of Basketball, thanks to the SVGCC, it is the lone opportunity that some of the local clubs get to showcase what they have in the five- a -side format.

The late Otis Jack, who pioneered the execution of a Sports Programme at the post-secondary level since the early 2000s, essentially paved the way for what has evolved, crafted, and executed overtime.

From Jack to current Sports Coordinator, Roxell John, things have been quadrupled, with the programme garnering greater visibility.

One cannot for a moment, slight or place under the bushel, one of the highlight moments of John’s tenure.

It must be reiterated that in 2017, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ cohort of Physical Education students recorded the highest on the Merit List for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

The colloquial saying to give Jack his jacket is apt as Ortis gained his. Now it is time to give John his blazer.

His framing of the Sports Science programme, thus affording students to gain an Associated Degree, is another landmark. So too has been the Grenadines Tours, engaging the faculties in Football versus other community teams in the chain of islands, as well as the partnership forged with the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, the SVG Referees Association and other entities, inclusive of corporate bodies.

Likewise, the annual Sports Awards Ceremony, which puts the icing on the sporting calendar cake of the college, and more so, rewards the standouts in the disciplines.

Whilst John is the brainchild of the happenings and incremental progress of the college’s programme, much could not have been achieved had his administrative superiors were at variance with his plans and insights.

Hopefully, the hierarchy of the college will continue to share the vision of Mr John, as he builds on the solid foundation that he designed, and into which he has injected many hours of intuitional expertise and fervour for excellence.

Extrapolating to the national landscape, whilst John is making his mark on the college’s sports programme, for reasons beyond comprehension, he is being marginalized. Thus, the country is in a sporting deficit, as politicalization has taken precedence over efficiency, hence, mediocrity reigns in those governmental departments where sports is mandated.

Similarly, the college’s Sports Awards Ceremony has put the National Sports Council to shame, simply with the thought of ensuring it takes place.

The country’s sportsmen and women are at the back of the field, nationally, as that entity has not seen it appropriate to recompense the country’s sporting heroes and heroines with a night of recognition, complemented with a dash of glow and glamour, as well as the minimum of financial reciprocity.

Their undoing and tardiness- but John is wearing his blazer proudly.

Well done, Roxell John.