Just some gentle nudges

As sports in St Vincent and the Grenadines is again on the back foot, because of the inevitable impact of the coronavirus, which has been hovering as a pandemic for the past ten months, we have to just wait it out until the local infections are lessened and an accepted normalcy returns.

But as we wait in the lobby to receive the green light, there are some hidden applications that can be worked on, sorted, rectified, fine-tuned, just to be ready when things become nice again.

It is opportune time for the authorities at the Victoria Park, namely the National Lotteries Authority (NLA), to address the dire need of fixing the lighting system at that venue.

Whilst the lighting at the park, may be adequate for cultural events, it is woefully poor for football.

This column would want to give the policy-makers at the NLA the benefit of the doubt that the matter is on the agenda. However, the issue has been brought to them for sometime, as the lighting has been deteriorating at a rapid rate over time.

One would therefore call for a complete overhauling of these lights. This would certainly enhance the emerging product that national football club championships is oozing from its bowels.

It may be also another opening for the personnel at the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF), intensify and nudge the relevant government and NLA officials on the matter.

Also in need of a jab to the side, are those who hold offices of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee (SVGOC). A notice is being sent to you, that there are some national sporting disciplines that have been more or less inactive for the better part of a decade.

Please be reminded that the St Vincent and the Grenadines Boxing Association and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation are the guilty parties.

Yes, this column is quite aware that in the case of Boxing, snippets and intermitent activities have taken place, but is that enough to be deemed a functioning, legitimate and bonafide national sporting association?

The moral call has to be sounded to have these two entities get their act together one way or the other. But the onus should be on the SVGOC to clean the apparently abandoned houses and pursue new occupants.

While the two, Boxing and Bodybuilding, are the stand-outs in terms of their dormancy, there are others which are also hopping on one leg, as they mere existing, thanks to the presence of one or two officials who are holding the fort.

Meanwhile, the time is also rife for the new Minister of Public Service, Consumer and Sports. Frederick Stephenson, to put, as a matter of priority, the unfinished work left by his predecessor.

Stephenson should immediately have an audience with the executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cycling Union. For many years, national cycling officials have been given the run-around, as it relates to the erection of a BMX track.

The protracted issue of this country procuring a track from the United States Cycling Federation has been on the table since 2011, to no avail.

The pussy-footing and nonchalance shown to the local cycling authorities, can now be corrected by Stephenson. The minister should endeavour to leave an indelible on the sporting landscape, while rewriting the wrong left by those who came before him.

Stephenson should make his tenure count by provide more than lip service, blarney, broken promises and the usual political rhetoric, but sincerely make an imprint on sports and physical education here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

This column is hopeful that the nudges presented are addressed, otherwise the next course of action will be to throw the heavy punches with bare knuckles.