Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
R. Rose
April 15, 2016

Cricket triumphs put sport in focus

The triple victories of the West Indies’ cricket teams at the global level- World Cup trophies at the Under-19, Women and T20 Men- have again raised the profile of cricket, and wider, sport, among Caribbean people. In true Caribbean fashion, there is also the accompanying controversy and public spat between the West Indies players and a popularly-perceived “arrogant” administration, but that has been a long time coming.{{more}}

What we can gather from the whole experience is how much, not just cricket, but sport as a whole, means to Caribbean people, as well as our fluctuating attitudes towards it. It was not too long ago that we, who were hooting so loud a couple Sundays ago, basking in Carlos Brathwaithe’s miraculous four straight sixes, were writing off the same team as “worst Indies”, claiming a lack of interest in the team’s fortunes. By the time that same team had reached the semi-finals, we were all avid supporters.

The same story is repeated otherwise. When Vincy Heat footballers were romping through their World Cup preliminaries, they were the darlings of the sporting public, but when reality catches up with us against stiffer opposition, “steups” is more common than appreciation of difficulty. That’s how we are.

That double-standard attitude towards our athletes and sporting teams is all too typical of us. It underlies our failure at the most basic level to maintain what is the foundation of any sustainable sporting achievement, the club structure. It is worse in some countries, notably ours, than others, but it adds to that level of fickleness among supporters, drifting from one team to the next.

It is one of the many fundamentals that we need to address to get our sporting priorities right if we are to make headway in sport. That is particularly relevant to the Vincentian context, for, putting nostalgia aside, we cannot be happy with where Vincentian sport is at the moment. This is the country which produced the first Caribbean cricketer to play in English county cricket, more than a century ago; which was the first of the “small islands” to produce a Test cricketer in the person of Alfie Roberts. But where are we today?

In football, not only was SVG a dominant force in Windwards football, but at our first opportunity on the wider stage, CFU, we demonstrated that we were right up there with those with far greater populations and resources- second in CFU in 1979 and 1981. We have a global stage today, but neither the level of organisation nor performance to take full advantage of it.

Our third major sport, netball, has also fallen off, in regional terms as well. Here again, SVG was once a regional powerhouse, matching Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, the countries which have made a name on the international stage, stride for stride. What a far cry today! Vincy woman is no longer boss at the regional level, not even at the sub-regional OECS level.

We could go on and on, not to lament but to bring a sense of reality to our people, for us, whether sporting administrators, athletes or fans, to make sober reflection and analysis. To stretch the point, recently, Grenada hosted the CARIFTA Games for Junior athletes at its newly-rebuilt stadium. How must our athletes have felt that atmosphere! Would the long-promised stadium here have made a difference to our performances?

(Continued next week)

Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    Villa woman in  hospital after being stabbed over 20 times
    Front Page
    Villa woman in hospital after being stabbed over 20 times
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Police are said to be carrying out investigations into the stabbing of Rafia Sardine, a 20-year-old female of Villa. Reports are that Sardine, a FLOW ...
    RSVGPF most hacked of gov’t agencies
    Front Page
    RSVGPF most hacked of gov’t agencies
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    In St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), an analysis has found that the most hacked government entity was the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Polic...
    Event staged locally to mark Africa/ Caricom Day
    Front Page
    Event staged locally to mark Africa/ Caricom Day
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Leaders of Governments and institutions from countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the continent of Africa, gathered at the weekend for ...
    PM, proud of his constituents
    Front Page
    PM, proud of his constituents
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, is proud of the persons in his constituency who continue to aim for higher education. Dr Gonsalves is the parliame...
    Van conductor to be sentenced for beating pregnant ex-girlfriend
    Front Page
    Van conductor to be sentenced for beating pregnant ex-girlfriend
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    A van conductor, who beat his five- months pregnant ex-girlfriend after she refused to get back with him, has been remanded pending sentencing. Onez J...
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    To the haunting timeless reggae melody of Jimmy Cliff’s classic ‘Journey’, Curtis King, who was selected as the candidate for the Unity Labour Party (...
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    To the haunting timeless reggae melody of Jimmy Cliff’s classic ‘Journey’, Curtis King, who was selected as the candidate for the Unity Labour Party (...
    Steel wielding Lowman’s Hill man to be sentenced tomorrow
    From the Courts, News
    Steel wielding Lowman’s Hill man to be sentenced tomorrow
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    A Lowman’s Hill man who struck another villager in his head with a piece of steel will know his fate tomorrow, September 10, 2025. Kevin Roberts, 25, ...
    Minister of Information Technology  emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    News
    Minister of Information Technology emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Robust cybersecurity must be at the heart of the digital transformation that is currently taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) says Min...
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    News
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Climate Change Resilience Network (CCRN) in collaboration with the Youlou Radio Movement (YRM) recently embarked on a disaster preparedness initia...
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    News
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, is to obtain three more Heamodialysis machines as part of the revolution in the healthcare secto...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok