‘Deliver on your promise’ – Michael Ollivierre

Experienced track and field coach Michael “Mercy” Ollivierre, is calling on the authorities to deliver soonest, the promise of at least a “track” for the nation’s athletes.

“I am fed up of the promises… We need a track like now … It is urgent, we need it,” Ollivierre restated.

Ollivierre said that the latest promise of a track came last April during the euphoria, when St Vincent and the Grenadines was able to gain two gold medals at the 2018 staging of the Junior Carifta Games held in the Bahamas.

His pleas were magnified as he watched painfully as athletes negotiated the condition of the surface of the Sion Hill Playing Field last Saturday, as Team Athletics SVG hosted a Hurdles and Development Meet at that venue.

The local track and field season has been disrupted because of the non- availability of the Arnos Vale One Playing Field.

That facility, which is the country’s best, is the venue for two regional cricket matches in February, and will host the CONCACAF Nations League Qualifiers football match between St Vincent and the Grenadines and Bonaire on March 21.

This means that all track and field activities have had to be shifted to the Sion Hill Playing Field.

“It is painful because we have the talent,” Ollivierre reasoned.

Describing the conditions at the Sion Hill Playing Field as “horrible”, Ollivierre said that in the absence of a synthetic track, the nation’s athletes are deserving of the “best which is available”.

In the interim, as St Vincent and the Grenadines awaits the long “promised” track, Ollivierre calls for better arrangements be made so that all sporting

disciplines can maximise the available facilities.

Ollivierre, who is the first Vice President of Team Athletics SVG, the local governing body for the sport, is on record as one of the lead trumpeters, who has been bellowing over the years for government authorities to make a decisive move and facilitate the erection of an all-weather track.

Vincentians were given a bit of hope when in 2012, a representative of one of the world’s leading track suppliers – Mondo, paid a visit here to look at the possible options for the laying down of a track.

Following Michael Tovar’s site visits, designs were sent back to the relevant authorities, but this was as far as the progress was reached.

Since then, there have been grandiose promises made by some sitting politicians of St Vincent and the Grenadines about getting a track, while those who are in waiting, have also weighed in, stating that once elected, they are “committed to the construction of a national stadium”.

Experienced track and field coach Michael “Mercy” Ollivierre, is calling on the authorities to deliver soonest, the promise of at least a “track” for the nation’s athletes.

“I am fed up of the promises… We need a track like now … It is urgent, we need it,” Ollivierre restated.

Ollivierre said that the latest promise of a track came last April during the euphoria, when St Vincent and the Grenadines was able to gain two gold medals at the 2018 staging of the Junior Carifta Games held in the Bahamas.

His pleas were magnified as he watched painfully as athletes negotiated the condition of the surface of the Sion Hill Playing Field last Saturday, as Team Athletics SVG hosted a Hurdles and Development Meet at that venue.

The local track and field season has been disrupted because of the non- availability of the Arnos Vale One Playing Field.

That facility, which is the country’s best, is the venue for two regional cricket matches in February, and will host the CONCACAF Nations League Qualifiers football match between St Vincent and the Grenadines and Bonaire on March 21.

This means that all track and field activities have had to be shifted to the Sion Hill Playing Field.

“It is painful because we have the talent,” Ollivierre reasoned.

Describing the conditions at the Sion Hill Playing Field as “horrible”, Ollivierre said that in the absence of a synthetic track, the nation’s athletes are deserving of the “best which is available”.

In the interim, as St Vincent and the Grenadines awaits the long “promised” track, Ollivierre calls for better arrangements be made so that all sporting disciplines can maximise the available facilities.

Ollivierre, who is the first Vice President of Team Athletics SVG, the local governing body for the sport, is on record as one of the lead trumpeters, who has been bellowing over the years for government authorities to make a decisive move and facilitate the erection of an all-weather track.

Vincentians were given a bit of hope when in 2012, a representative of one of the world’s leading track suppliers – Mondo, paid a visit here to look at the possible options for the laying down of a track.

Following Michael Tovar’s site visits, designs were sent back to the relevant authorities, but this was as far as the progress was reached.

Since then, there have been grandiose promises made by some sitting politicians of St Vincent and the Grenadines about getting a track, while those who are in waiting, have also weighed in, stating that once elected, they are “committed to the construction of a national stadium”.