SPORTSMEN don’t hold your breath!
It is highly unlikely, nigh impossible, that maybe outside of King cricket, that any Barbados Government would find you worthy to spend $800 000 in one fell swoop.
To begin with, you are not always seen as royalty despite your best efforts against all odds to be competitive at major games for this country.
Very often I sympathize with you because I know you go into battle vastly under-prepared against opponents who are given the best of everything as they seek to defend their country’s sovereignty and its mission statement.
Our motto is Pride And Industry and on almost every occasion at major games you are sent with rocks to fight opponents who are armed with much more sophisticated artillery.
You hardly ever stand a realistic chance to respond in the manner expected, that’s why we make such a fuss when on rare moments, individualsor teams make a significant mark.
I know they are some who will be quick to say that one of the most likely reasons we might fail is because we come up against countries with populations that dwarf ours, meaning that they have much more human capital to choose from so their options for medal positions are greater.
Point taken, but how much money and other resources do we commit to adequately prepare the few elite athletes who qualify for an event like the Olympics?
I am sure it will not amount to near what we spent on the recent Royal visit to Barbados but I am equally certain that it would cause those in authority nightmares to decide on how much can be taken from the public purse to support such efforts.
Home drums must beat first at all times and a greater effort by whoever is in charge must be made to invest in the human development of our people, which include sportsmen and women who meet the requirements for such assistance.
To do otherwise would be sending mixed signals to our youth in particular, and I insist that when we tamper with the psyche of the youth, there is the likelihood that they become less motivated to put country before material gain.
The mantra of late American president John F Kennedy about not asking what your country can do for you but rather what you can do for your country, becomes null and void when it appears that you rush to do more for foreigners than for your own, the same set of people you depend on to build on the pillars cemented by our predecessors.
In fact, such practices may make nonsense of the mirror image the late National Hero, the Right Excellent Errol Barrow would have envisioned for us as a people.
If we are to be guardians of our history and be proactive in our destiny going forward, our actions must be seen to match our words or there must be some viable explanation if and when we fall short of our targets.
So the young athletes were promised a new track in time for the current season. We assumed that on the grounds of the world economic crisis we couldn’t muster the funds to come good on this promise.
The work is now due to begin in August but we will have to wait and see what will happen and what will be said when that time comes.
Not forgetting, there was big talk about turning the Netball Stadium into a multi-purpose facility that would accommodate other sports like volleyball, basketball and badminton but alas this plan was shelved with the downturn in the economy.
From the time Adam was a lad there have been proposals to turn the aged YMCA into a facility of that kind and the point was made again recently by Anton Lovell during his feature address to the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association at their award ceremony.
But would Government consider partnering with private enterprise to the tune of what was spent on the Royal visit to make this a reality?
Would a Government spend money in upgrading the national boxing gym at the Stadium considering that amateur boxers have done as much and in some instances more as other athletes to keep Barbados’ flag flying high at international games?
Would a Government invest the necessary funds in programmes that will enhance and build a continuous foundation for junior sportsmen right across the sporting board once precocious talent has been spotted from as early as Primary School level, mindful that one day some of these same seeds could bring glory and prestige to this nation?
Would a Government invest the capital it would take to exploit the full potential of our indigenous sport of road tennis and make it the international sport it can be or will we wait for the Chinese, perhaps, to seize it and brand it as theirs as they continue to emerge as the next global power?
Would a Government invest in having a cadre of sporting icons, inclusive of sports outside of cricket, who can attend events such as the World Trade Market to help sell Barbados as a sports tourism destination, considering that we
claim to see the real dollar value of sports and how it has all the trademarks to help rebuild or strengthen our economy?
Despite his recent falling out with the powers that be, wouldn’t the credentials of Ronald “Suki” King fit such a bill? How about track and field icons like Obadele Thompson and Ryan Brathwaite?
Bodybuilding stalwarts like Darcy Beckles and Earl Maynard? Swimmers like Leah Martindale and Nicky Neckles? The Bournes and Maloneys of motor racing fame to mention a few?
We can go on and on with this general topic about what can be done for various sports but the point has to be made that even in harsh economic times people set aside or can find money for the things they see as priorities. The Royal visit falls into this category.
Why then can’t sports be treated, if not all the time, most of the time with the same importance and urgency?
Successive Governments will find it hard to come up with an appropriate answer.
If I was a sportsman, I won’t hold my breath waiting for the answer I deserve.
Andi Thornhill is an award-winning freelance journalist.