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13th September 2012
Sports: Mere Lip Service

I was not the only St. Lucian sports enthusiast who was aware that St. Lucia’s four representatives would go to London 2012 with little or no hopes of winning an Olympic medal. As a concerned St. Lucian I was proud of the fact that our athletes were given a chance at the world stage, for the fifth consecutive time at these games.

Our Governor General, the island Prime Minister, Youth Development and Sports Minister, the SLOC President and Commonwealth Games Vice President all had an opportunity to see our pride and joy perform on the big stage against the world’s best.

Permit me now, to roll back the hands of time, just for a brief moment. We talked about improvement after the Beijing 2008, Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 debacle. Did anything change then over that period? Twelve years in total. If things don’t change now and the same people remain at the helm of certain national sports federation, then I fear that there would be no hope for our sportsmen and sportswomen at Rio 2016 either.

I am not one to point fingers and I know that sometimes it could be very taxing on those in charge. By the way, I am not making any excuses here for anyone, but the secret is that the leaders of these federations want to champion the cause and the day to day issues affecting their respective sports all by themselves. They refuse to delegate responsibilities to other members of their federation, who too were elected by their affiliates. Is it a case of “I am in charge!”?

Last year St. Lucia under - 16 netballers came back home as Caribbean Champions. What has happened to netball since then? The midnight glamour has attracted more people to the Vigie Sports Complex, this year being no exception. Our under - 23 team failed to show slate in Grenada, as was the case with the national senior team in Trinidad under Coach Connie Francis from Jamaica. The island’s young under -15 and under -19 cricketers continue to do well at the Windward Islands level, while the senior team has failed to come up with a championship in spite of Darren Sammy, Johnson Charles, GareyMathurin making it on the International scene. Larry Edwards and Tarryck Gabriel went on to represent the Windward Islands under -19’s and performed outstandingly. On the other side of the coin, the female version of the game continues to receive lip service.

The sport of Boxing has had its ups and down, but has been able to maintain the momentum as boxers continue to bring home some joy to our hearts. The campaign has been marshalled by LyndellMarcellin. But how much longer will the boxers be able to stomach the bad conditions at that dilapidated training facility at Vigie? Who is looking out for the betterment of our athletes?

St. Lucia’s football has reached one of its lowest ebb in years. FIFA’s and CONCACAF latest ranking tell the true picture. This has been trying times for our national male team as they do not have the will power to go past the final hurdle. The word ‘team preparation’ for a major tournament is nothing short of unacceptable. It was only late Tuesday evening that a provisional 23 man squad was named to participate in next month’s Caribbean Cup. For now Ladies’ Football appears to be at the cross roads similar to women’s cricket; it’s simply lip service. In the meantime, kudos must go out to the various football academies on the island as they continue to harness respective talent for the future.

With the launch of the NICE football programme, scheduled for Friday 14th September within the school system, one hopes that the initiative will create a glimpse of a silver lining on the horizon for the future of football on the island.

Swimming, Track and Field, Cycling, Basketball, Squash, Tennis and Volleyball all have their teething issues despite persons picking up medals and winning championships along the way. I guess no one can belittle you for trying; but the issue here is, there is need for more local championships with some extra flavour so young men and women will get attracted to the sport.

 
 

To date, Track and Field, Swimming and Tennis are the only three national federations presently leading in terms of the number of events they have held thus far. From my vantage point, I believe Track and Field and Swimming need to come a lot better as they are falling short by at least three additional championships.

Tennis has improved this year. The NTC has been lively and one cannot belittle the efforts thus far. One cannot always be satisfied as with 110 days to go before year end, a further two local tournaments for these young and aspiring tennis players will certainly be commendable.

The Volleyball Federation on the local scene has fallen short. The BOSL/Guy Brown Championship and the inaugural Commercial League appears to be the only championship, so how can one expect to see any improvement in terms of developmental. The SLVA needs to take the sport right across the island. School basketball has had it ups and down and one is still uncertain whether that aspect of the sport should remain in the hands of the Ministry or passed on to the SLVA. We need to see a more sustained school volleyball programme sooner than later. By the way, congratulations to our senior men’s Volleyball team for winning the ECVA championship.

In the case of Basketball, to date the SLBF has staged just one major tournament for the year which could be deemed a success. Like the SLVA they too need to champion the cause of Basketball in a vigorous way so the sport can take its rightful place on St. Lucia’s sports calendar.

Wow! Do we have a sports calendar? That is an interesting question. This just shows how much we’re in a mess in organizing the little things. The problem with St. Lucia sports is that there are too many people who are more interested in safeguarding their job rather than doing it.

A glance at local sporting results would tell you how St. Lucia sports has declined during the last 15 years. Inspite of the fact that some individuals and teams are doing well, the question of inconsistency is a major call for concern.

For London 2012, only two track and field athletes, one swimmer and a sailor made the Olympic cut. By my vantage point, if the national federations during the past four years worked or made a valiant attempt to work, there would have been be five more St. Lucians featured in the Games, but not as ‘wildcards’. Such entries are listed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to nations like ours, who are unable to make the cut for the Games on merit.

I would defend my case by saying that a lot of people are to be blamed for St. Lucia’s sports decline. I would cite the insufficient role played by most of the national federations. That’s the sort of ostrich approach that has brought our sports on the brink of disaster. It baffles me most of the times why our sports officials don’t see the problems staring them in the face.

We more than now need to pull all stops to regain our pride, for we can make it happen. We are people of resilience, but if we decide to give up the fight that means there is no hope for St. Lucia despite the well of talent that keeps overflowing. We need to be a sport - crazy nation. What we have now is an unacceptable scenario. The way things are that’s the way things will continue to be unless some kind of positive change takes place.

By the look of things that won’t happen anytime soon unless everyone has the same common goal. There are too many people who are not sports oriented but yet they continue to lead. Too many people who are frustrated continue to make decisions on behalf of our sportsmen and sportswomen. We have too many people who still have that anger and want to get back at someone through sports, but they are still in a position calling the shots. We have too many people who have run out of ideas to move sports in St. Lucia a few notches forward, yet they are still sitting behind that all important desk and most importantly heading a national federation.

Meanwhile, I leave you the reader with names of the national federations affiliated to the St.Lucia Olympic Committee - Athletics, Basketball, Bodybuilding, Boxing, Cycling, Football, Judo, Karate, Life Saving, Netball, Sailing, Shooting, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis and Volleyball.

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