“Whatever became of . . . ?” is a question I often hear and increasingly so during athletics season.
While athletes from other countries seem able to bridge the gap and transition from CARIFTA Games to Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Juniors to Pan American Juniors and on to the world meets and senior ranks, Barbadian athletes seem to fade away.
Those who go on athletics scholarships, on whom a lot of hope is placed, seem contented to come back home with their degrees and settle into 9 to 5 jobs. Occasionally you see them at the National Stadium in the stands, quietly watching athletics meets.
I wonder what is going through their minds when they see the next set of athletes – some of whom aren’t as good as they are. Others don’t return at all.
Sometimes in gatherings, you hear they have children, got married, divorced, changed jobs, came to Barbados for a wedding or funeral and so on.
Still, there are others who know their window of opportunity has passed but keep competing. They are looked on with even more disdain because you often hear ‘Why so-and-so don’t stop?’
Many of them are bitter and have nothing good to say about some sports administrators who they feel slighted them, did not like them, did not pick them for X or Y team and destroyed their career.
The fact is that many of them are as much to blame. If you talk to the sports administrators, they also tell stories about athletes they were investing in, who decided they didn’t want to do it anymore.
This article is not about a trip down memory lane, though, it is about looking to the future.
The senior ranks are looking up for or the first time since the late 1990s and early 2000s which saw the emergence of Olympic bronze medallist Obadele Thompson; former Commonwealth champion Andrea Blackett; Olympians Victor Houston, Gabriel Burnett, Tanya Oxley, Melissa Straker-Taylor, Cherita Howard, Sherline Williams, Wilan Louis and others.
As of Sunday, there are 17 athletes who have qualified for the CAC Senior Championships and four for the World Championships.
Last weekend, there were some very encouraging performances by the overseas-based athletes at their respective conferences.
Sade Sealy won the Missouri Valley Conference women’s outdoor 400 metres for the fourth consecutive year, only the second person ever to do so. She also had a personal best time of 52.01 seconds, a new meet record and World Championships “B” qualifying time.
The last Barbadian senior to do a 52-point was Oxley just before the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The national record is still 51.04 set by Lorna Forde way back in 1978.
Former CARIFTA champion Sade-Mariah Greenidge also had a huge personal best performance of 13.16 seconds to place second at the Conference-USA Championships. It was just slightly off the World “B” standard.
The champions included Olympian Greggmar Swift, Nikolai Gall, junior Shavonne Husbands who has qualified for CAC Seniors and late bloomer Rimar Christie.
These athletes are at university, so the National Collegiate Athletics Association rules restrict what level of financial and other support they can receive.
The concern is what will be done for athletes like Sealy and Kierre Beckles who are finishing their college stint to encourage them to see track and field as a career and provide the support they need while navigating that initial period as a professional.
Former world champions Ryan Brathwaite and Shane Brathwaite (youth) have both secured sponsorship from Adidas, but they are the exception.
The government of Barbados and the Athletics Association of Barbados need to formalize an agreement to provide for athletes. Bind them to a contract, if necessary, which links performance to rewards.
It is no different than having to keep up their grades at college. What obtains now is a haphazard system with some sponsorship coming from the Barbados Olympic Association and the National Sports Council.
We’ve seen how sport can transform people, communities and countries.
It’s time Barbados got on board and invested in our sportsmen and women.
