THE DAYS of clubs playing just for trophies and prizes should be reviewed by national associations.
If I’m not mistaken, only competitions organised by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) and the Barbados Football Association (BFA) carry prize money. Belatedly, road tennis is joining the ranks, but not necessarily through its parent body.
I think the time has come for other sporting organisations to do the same for their affiliates, particularly in more of the mass-based sports like netball, basketball and volleyball.
You could argue that back in the day cricket and football dominated our sporting landscape to a great degree and there was islandwide support for both sports. It is easier for major brands to attract sponsorship.
Cricket was and is still king from a corporate and social standpoint, so giving financial rewards to its subjects might have been a natural consideration to complement its royal status. A king should always look the part that goes with such a designation.
Few opportunities
Domestically, there were very few opportunities for cricket to raise revenue from gate receipts, except for regional and international matches. There was also support from the regional body, but the same couldn’t be said for football as money was collected at venues such as Kensington Oval and Carlton before moving to the National Stadium in the early 1970s.
That could have been done because the following was massive and there was a period when clubs got a percentage of the gate receipts. In essence, football clubs have always had the privilege of earning cash from their marketing pull.
I think the current administration could consider reinventing the wheel in this regard by giving clubs a share of the money from gate receipts. This, of course, would not affect the divisional prize money earned by merit.
I can add that this has been the norm for football long before the association started receiving a fairly hefty annual subvention from FIFA, the sport’s governing body.
Clearly then, the BFA had to put certain mechanisms in place to ensure it could pay the clubs at the end of the season, because all the money couldn’t be raised from crowd support, although they needed funds for other purposes.
I know a couple years ago, because of financial problems, the association found itself in a tangle with the clubs over money but traditionally it has been able to meet its commitments.
Reward clubs
I am saying that some of the other administrations can set themselves a similar task to reward clubs with prize money at the end of the season. An empty cup is not cutting it in this day and age. We must move into modern times and deal with today’s realities.
Too many groups are prepared to limit their capacity for reform and revolution and that could be one of the main reasons their respective sports are stuck in the Dark Ages.
Subsequently, those in charge of charting the courses must challenge themselves to be innovative and introduce newer methods to keep the sportsmen and women motivated. I am not only making a case for paying clubs in this regard, but generally, because if we look at things objectively, virtually all of the sporting organisations are functioning in the same manner that their founding fathers did.
There is no new philosophical mooring to trigger change; therefore sports development has generally remained stagnant. This may have a lot to do with the fact that the same people remain on executives for generations and there’s hardly any new blood to reflect and effect new thinking and probable change.
While I concede that money is not all, it is needed in the structural adjustment of local sports to provide a bigger incentive for clubs to do well in competition and use prize money to be more self-reliant.
Option
I am aware that right across the board several clubs are sponsored, but giving them the opportunity to earn their own keep will lead to greater self-esteem, not to mention provide them with the option to use some of the winning capital to upgrade facilities, make tours, or even provide additional training for their charges as the lack of it is a fundamental weakness at the club level.
I believe clubs shouldn’t be totally dependent on national bodies to provide all the training necessary to enhance their programmes at the foundation stage.
Of those other sports mentioned before, except cricket and football, I think netball can definitely look at introducing prize money in time to come.
Strong support
It is a discipline that has maintained strong spectator support. Tournaments get exceptional media coverage and even if the association doesn’t collect a lot of money at the gates because of the small fee that is charged, I feel that because of the exposure netball receives, sponsors can partner with the association and introduce the financial incentives I am speaking of. It can be a win-win situation.
It seems that venue changes in the name of so-called progress have undermined the capability of basketball and volleyball to attract big crowds anymore, unless there is a regional tournament. I remember when the YMCA was the stomping ground for basketball and the Netball Stadium served a similar purpose for volleyball, spectator interest was massive.
The crowd factor becomes important because any potential corporate partners want to know about numbers, for central to the bottom line is how many people would be exposed to their product to make it worthwhile for them. The something for something concept comes into play all the time in these matters.
In the overall picture, where there’s a will there’s a way, and while I’d be naive to think that what I’m proposing is that simple, there’s still nothing wrong with associations considering my point of view.
• Andi Thornhill is an experienced, award-winning sports journalist. Email andithornhill1@gmail.com
