THE AVERAGE BAJAN lives in a comfort zone despite hardships at times and, as a result, our sportsmen don’t have that hunger for success like some of their peers from other islands.
This probably, more than anything else, explains why our footballers don’t make it to the professional ranks.
Let’s face it, whatever socio-conomic woes we face, generally people are still guaranteed food and shelter, and if you’re part of the younger brigade you can still get a supply of the latest brand-name clothes and a smartphone to boot.
It is a community thing and while there will be diversions, people still look out for each other, so even jobless persons will get help to indulge in some of the things they crave.
In other words, everyone may not be inclined to go that extra mile it takes to be a successful person if their basic needs are being looked after. On the other hand, I have heard time and again sportsmen from all over the world saying they used sports as a mechanism to evade and escape the claws of poverty.
For sure we have footballers, past and present, who are as technically gifted as any in the world, but they seem to lack that extra drive to let their God-given talents take them as far as it can.
Lest we forget, there was a period in the 1990s when former Barbados Defence Force coach Kevin Millard created several opportunities for some of our outstanding players to get professional contracts but a lot of them didn’t cut it during the trials.
All of this time, for instance, we kept hearing about other regional players who were selected to play for teams in Europe, North America and even as far as the Middle East.
Truth be told, a handful like Eric Lavine, Rudy Rouse played in Ireland while Dave Forde and Horace Stoute had stints in Scotland.The cream of the crop was forward Gregory “Lalu” Goodridge who started at Torquay United and made his way to the English Premier League (EPL) playing for Queen’s Park Rangers. He was the first home-grown player to play in the EPL.
Elson Seale, though, preceded them all by playing in the North American Soccer League in the mid-1970s for the Portland Timbers and he also had assignments in Holland and Germany.
The thing that struck me most about Goodridge’s initial trial with Torquay is when Millard confided in me that the Ellerton-born baller was given his first outing on the training ground in what he described as some of the “sleasiest” conditions possible. He explained that it was extremely cold and the wind was biting.That was done deliberately to test Goodridge’s mentality and to see how badly he wanted to be a professional. He passed it with flying colours and went on to much bigger things.
How many more that Millard set up were of that steely character to defy the odds to become a professional player? To be honest, universally Barbados is still regarded as a cricketing country and even now it’s relatively unlikely that scouts will religiously come here trying to unearth footballing talent before they consider other jurisdictions that are thought or known to have better football credentials.
The point I am making is that our footballers, literally and figuratively, have to grab their opportunities with both feet when they are presented because we can’t forget there are thousands more going after the same goal.
Furthermore, I think our players need to adopt a professional mentality to their sport. It can’t be about money first; money will follow once you show the necessary aptitude to develop your skills in a manner that will impress those who have the power to offer try-outs and contracts.
One of Barbados’ football legends, Anthony “Daisy” Clarke, will testify that at 28 when he tried out at Scottish club, Hearts, he passed every test except the age one and lost out on his chance to be a professional.
In any event,I think it will be harder to break into the English and the other top European leagues, so we should concentrate more on the fast developing Major League Soccer in North America and the possibilities in Central America or even the Middle East. There’s now an Indian Premier League as well, so we need not limit our options, but we must be prepared to rise to the occasion when the challenge comes along.
I believe all stakeholders, especially parents who dream of their children becoming professionals, must be more proactive in getting them noticed by the top international clubs from as early as possible.
• Andi Thornhill is an experienced, award-winning sports journalist.
