Barbados’ athletes are still suffering from a lack of exposure to professional models.
So says Barbados Football Association council member and sports lecturer Sasha Sutherland, who believes sportspeople can be better developed once they are involved in different coaching, training and administrative structures.
The 29-year-old Sutherland expressed the sentiment in a WEEKEND SPORT interview surrounding her candidacy for the position of director on the Barbados Olympic Association’s (BOA) board.
“I won’t say it is a failing per se, but we don’t give most of our athletes the ability to be involved in certain models and to recognize what it takes to get to and perform at the highest level,” she said.
“We definitely have to get professional management for our athletes and increase their exposure to international models, competition and coaching because there are opportunities out there for them but they need to understand the level of commitment required.
“Once we give them that exposure, they will be more committed.
“. . . And we also love to talk about academics and sport but don’t talk about the marriage of the two as there are no structures where our athletes can train and then still go to school,” she added.
It was just one of the views expounded by Sutherland ahead of what is set to be record BOA elections next week, with 12 candidates contesting the five positions for directors.
A sport lecturer at George Mason University who has also served in the management of women’s national football teams, Sutherland believes her background in research with respect to sports management will be a plus to the administration of Barbados’ Olympic movement.
And it doesn’t hurt any that she is also a former athlete, having represented the University of the West Indies in football, hockey, swimming, tennis and track and field, and is keen on representing the interests of young sportspeople.
“I am not just an administrator, or just an athlete; I am a researcher who has a sense of connection with athletes and is in tune with their needs,” Sutherland reasoned.
“But this isn’t to toot my own horn because no man is an island and I don’t profess to know everything. And my experience has taught me the joy of achievement and serving because this is not about getting a position, but it is about the satisfaction of serving athletes and giving back to society,” she added.
