I am convinced that, recession or not, sport is placed more on the back burner than the front.
The long-running battle to have a new track laid at the National Stadium proves it conclusively.
Didn’t Minister of sport Stephen Lashley promise the young athletes of Barbados a new track in time for the new athletics season during the closing ceremony of last year’s Secondary Schools’ Championships?
He told the athletes they could depend on it. They believed him because he was emphatic in his pronouncement.
In fact, he seemed poised to keep his promise when it was announced that the track would be closed after Crop Over to early in 2012 to accommodate the laying of it.
It was closed for a few weeks and then reopened. Although there was no official explanation for the change, we were left to assume that work could not start because there was no money to do it.
Perhaps some official explanation should have been given.
There are some hard economic truths to face because of the global financial crisis and, given that there had to be further belt-tightening since Lashley’s pledge, I am not surprised by the latest development because sport seems to be on the front burner consistently only when it comes to cutting public expenditure.
Other than that, it is the poor cousin in the family.
The need to prioritize is understandable in the current volatile financial environment but how could sport not be seen as a priority when it is part of the social glue that makes us one of the most stable countries in the world?
We do have our moments but generally Barbados is still one of the safest places to live in the world. Sport plays its part.
Can you imagine a civil Barbados if no sport could be played? How would we manage the energies of thousands of athletes if there was no avenue for them to unleash it?
Homes, communities and businesses are some of the vital arteries of social stability that might be affected. There might even be an upsurge in crime.
Sport can help to tone down people who are on the edge. It is a great vehicle for personal change.
Not forgetting it builds character, helps people to work as a team and, yes, gives nations bragging rights when sportsmen excel. We like to say sporting success comes through good governance, dedication and hardwork.
And while I am mindful that former American president John F. Kennedy said ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country, I am also persuaded to believe that development must be driven and obtained by a partnership between state and the populace.
It does take two hands to clap and we should at all times be prepared to give and take as we creep, crawl and ascend together.
Again, I ask how could sport within the Bajan context not qualify to be a priority at any time when financial prudence has to come into play?
What would be the magnitude of the celebration if by chance any of our athletes manage to get on the podium at the London Olympics?
I believe it would match what we staged for Obadele Thompson when he got bronze in the 100 metres at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 or what we put on for Ryan Brathwaite after he won gold at the World Athletics Championship in Berlin in 2009.
How can we not step aside, look at that possibility and decide that our athletes deserve a new track? Honestly, I thought that even after the excellent performance of the CARIFTA team last year in Jamaica that would have encouraged the powers that be to speed up the process of laying a new track.
Instead, the hopefuls have now been told that nothing will happen until after June this year.
How comforting is that in an Olympic year?
I would only say that it is amazing that this problem dates back to more than a decade and we are in a situation where no times clocked at the stadium will be recognized by the world governing body for athletics, the International Amateur Athletics Federation.
It is a shame that other islands we used to look down on can now laugh at us in this respect. They are no way better off economically but people in authority saw the need to upgrade facilities that would assist their athletes in preparing adequately for competition.
Of course, they didn’t spend all of their own money to do it but were able to get technical assistance from their international partners. What’s wrong with us?
I know people who are proud in the truest Barbadian tradition would not want to appear to be hand-to-mouth, but I don’t think that a bilateral arrangement puts you in that light.
Inter-dependence is key as we become more of a global village out of necessity more than any other reason. All kinds of resources seem to be shrinking and while greed remains a concern, the majority still need each other for survival.
I would be the first to agree that the stadium track has not always been linked to outstanding performances internationally, but the possibility of training on it and getting injured in its current state cannot be ruled out. This is a major concern.
The timeline indicates that both administrations have procrastinated in not only refurbishing the track but the stadium in general to make it a world class venue which it is far from being at the moment.
The general point is that when finance becomes a national issue, sport becomes a victim.
This approach needs to be reviewed.
• Andi Thornhill is an award-winning freelance sports journalist.