Fellow Bajans, I am not going to help you dry your crocodile tears now that the UWI sporting facility at Cave Hill will be named after Jamaican sports legend the incomparable Usain Bolt.
I understand how some of you feel but it serves us right because we don’t support our own and this development should be a wake-up call that helps to reform our psyche about the way we relate to each other especially to those who have served this country well but who we continue to disrespect.
I recall almost two years ago I suggested that the National Stadium should be considered to be named after Olympic bronze medalist Obadele Thompson and it was shot down as if his feat wasn’t a watershed in our sporting history or that third place in a blue riband event like the 100 metres didn’t mean anything.
A Nation newspaper survey on the issue still hasn’t been published and I believe this has happened because the majority of the responses were not in favour of the suggestion and they didn’t want to embarrass Thompson.
Yet this was a man we celebrated and feted after his historic achievement with a motorcade from the airport to the Bay Street Esplanade, where there was a lot of sweet talk from the political directorate and very little after.
Thompson was named as an ambassador but some years after, he complained that he hadn’t received the appropriate instruments for the position nor did he know what his role was!
At least Sir Hilary has announced one of the stands at the new facility will be named after Thompson, a small but worthy consolation considering that the state has failed him horribly in this respect.
Ronald ‘Suki’ King reigned as the draughts Go-As-You-Please world champion for 23 years and how did we repay him? He was made to wash cars to raise money for his overseas trips.We spoke self-righteously of his so-called negative traits as though we were lily white and perfect.
In other jurisdictions he was treated like the king he is by name and nature.This is how we repaid a great sporting ambassador for rebranding draughts single-handedly in Barbados and placing it on the international map as a sport that demands excellent intellectual powers and gifts to rise to the top as he did.
Oh, and don’t forget not so long ago the kind of treatment cricket legend Desmond Haynes received when he tried to enter a stand that bears his name at Kensington Oval. It seemed that those responsible for inflicting the humiliation on Haynes enjoyed the moment to the point they felt they too should have been honoured.
The great man was so pained he threatened to have his name removed from the stand. It was a total disgrace that such an outstanding servant of Barbados and the Caribbean should have been treated that way.
And when I was growing up I was very perplexed why Bajans would make “mock sport” at the greatest cricketer who ever played the sport.There were too many so-called Ossie Moore jokes to mention making the rounds about Sir Garfield Sobers and people felt proud doing it. Shameful!
People in places like Australia and England held him up as a a beacon of excellence and fair play while Bajans were “dissing” him.
And how have we rewarded someone like outstanding netballer Marva Sealy. She was definitely rated among the best in the Caribbean in her era and I don’t think it would be asking too much if the netball facility at Waterford was named after her. I won’t hold my breath about that happening either!
I can go on and on about others who haven’t received their due for making sterling contributions to the sporting landscape and of those who carry a bitter taste in their mouths about the shoddy treatment they have received from state and associations they thought had their interests at heart until they retired and discovered that was the end of their shelf life.
Like Desmond Haynes and others, many have been made to look small when trying to gain entry to events and blatantly ignored at the gates by some who should know better.
Truthfully, I believe the facility should be named after a local icon and not only because Bolt is of a different nationality.There are others in our midst who would easily qualify for the accolade being bestowed only if those who made the decision had given it more thought or even consulted with the local sporting federations to help them find a person or persons with the necessary credentials.
I am tired of the catch phrase about regionalism as an excuse for taking certain positions when it suits some individuals.
This is an instance where home drums should have beat first and nobody would have complained notwithstanding that Bolt is a regional and world icon.
How can we look in our midst to be inspired when we continue to overlook our own and many we don’t even want to acknowledge?
Andi Thornhill is an experienced, award-winning sports journalist. Email:andithornhill!@gmail.com
