Outspoken sport psychologist Dawn-Marie Layne has given Barbados a failing grade for its sporting infrastructure.
Speaking on the topic of “goal-setting” on the third day of the inaugural DML Sport Psychology Series: Sport Psychology In The Caribbean – The Way Forward at the 3Ws Oval, Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies on Wednesday night, Layne bemoaned the state of the the 40-year-old National Stadium and questioned whether it was still a safe place for hosting sporting events.
“There are a lot of safety breaches, I believe going on with a lot of our facilities. Sometimes, the National Stadium, you wonder how it is even barely standing, hosting so many students year in and year out,” she charged.
“We often want our athletes to perform well but when you look at the conditions of our facilities sometimes, you often wonder how we are even able to produce some of the champions that we produced over the past years,” Layne lamented.
Layne, who obtained a masters degree in sport psychology at Northumbria University in England, said the Government and National Sports Associations need to set smart goals for sports, which are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.
She feels there should also be an evaluation of how goal-setting can be applied to sport development in Barbados and the management of sporting facilities which fall under the umbrella of the National Sports Council.
Layne recalled that because of the laying of a new track at the National Stadium, there was no suitable venue to host Inter-School Sports, earlier this year.
As a result, Layne noted additional money had to be spent on airline tickets and overseas accommodation as athletes tried to meet qualifying standards for regional meets.
“We are speaking about the economic crisis and the financial situations but you had to pay for these students to go and compete in other competitions in other Caribbean countries.
“You asked parents to pull their monies from out of their pockets just so their child could have an opportunity to represent their country,” Layne declared.
“Do you really think that athletes should have to leave their own country to travel to another country?” she asked.
Layne said using Kensington Oval as an alternative for track and field meets is not the answer.
“You can’t ask an 18-year-old, who a scout might be there looking to take them on a scholarship to a university that provides the opportunity that we lack here for them to pursue a higher level of education and to receive the recognition that they deserve, to run on a grass track.”
Layne said netball is probably the most outstanding team sport in the country with Barbados being world-ranked but the condition of the Netball Stadium was not reflective of the players’ success.
“Those girls have no choice but to train at the Netball Stadium and even if you want to use [the court] at Springer [Memorial School) or the Barbados Community College, those facilities are nowhere near to being up to standard,” she lamented.
She said the indoor BCC gymnasium, which has been used for volleyball, basketball and other sports, is usually hot and its size can present challenges.
“I think that if a volleyballer attempted to do a jump serve, he probably might hit the roof.”
The five-day series, which has attracted several past and present national sports representatives and coaches, climaxes today when Layne and Dr Rudolph Alleyne speak on the topic: Developing Mental Skills In Sports from 5 p.m. at the same venue.
