2012 is yet another

Many would again compare St Vincent and the Grenadines with others in the region in particular, anxious to point out by way of comparison the achievements of others versus those of our own athletes.

Often times, however little attention is paid to the circumstances under which this country attempts to prepare a representative team as compared to others, some of which are much smaller than our own.

One is yet to understand why it is that many of those anxious to engage in criticising the national team performances at many regional and international sporting events seem unwilling to research the realities that constrain this country at so many different levels.

Many fail to realise that there exists a gross disparity amongst the sports practise din this country. Some have their own facilities while others have none. Some can therefore train uninterruptedly throughout the entire year whole others are almost completely ignored for most of the year. Yet others are given access to facilities rather grudgingly.

One often gets the impression that at the very highest level in this country there is in reality very little interest in our athletes doing well in sports at the regional and international levels.

For some sports, success at the regional and international levels may well constitute an act of heroism more than anything else.

Squash

Congratulations are in order for the junior squash team that won the recently concluded OECS Squash competition.

Squash has been hard at work over the years and there is evidence that some progress is being made. Concern however does exist in respect of the performances at the broader Caribbean, continental and international competitions.

Even as we congratulate the successful squash team however we must acknowledge that among Vincentian sports this sports has much to boast about by way of privilege. The government bought the Cecil Cyrus Squash Complex from its original owner and gave the Squash Association the facilities to have and maintain as their own.

The National Lotteries Authority (NLA) owns the property and apart from the segment of the building allocated to Squash the organisation takes care of maintenance of the major part of the surroundings.

Squash therefor enjoys a very fortunate position amongst sporting bodies here in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Its athletes can train whenever they wish. They can readily seek to host regional competitions that give the association improved status amongst the membership of the international governing body for the sport.

Thus it is that the Squash Association here has been able to host sub regional and Caribbean Championships here with great local support and be very successful at it.

There may be reason enough now to broaden the coaching base of the organisation and determine a mechanism to bring the sport to the rural areas. There are obvious challenge sin doing so but we can all be creative.

Tennis

Thanks to the initiative of the Taiwanese at a time when the Charge d’Affairs had a very intensely passionate interest in the sport, the local tennis fraternity was handed their own home – the National Tennis Centre at Calliaqua.

Additionally, while the tennis court at the ‘Triangle’ at Richmond Hill remains the property of the NLA tennis has use of it for most of the year. Occasionally when there is a regional tournament the volleyball association gains access.

Like the squash association the tennis authorities in this country can afford to engage in training all year without interruption due to demand by others for use of the facility.

The tennis authorities here have enjoyed the support of the government, which added two courts to enable the hosting of the Americas Zone Group Four Davis Cup tournament here some years ago. Before that however, once the Taiwanese handed over the facility at Calliaqua the local associations was able to successfully bid for and host a Junior International Tennis Federation (ITF) Tournament for several consecutive years.

Surely the international standard facilities combined with the year-round training and frequency of competition facilitated a new generation of tennis players whose fortunes should easily be much better than is currently the case.

Tennis also enjoys the benefit of the Haddon courts now managed by Grant Connell under his Grassroots label. This initiative continues to bring significantly large numbers of youngsters from all social groupings across the country into the sport, offering them a well-maintained facility on which to train and compete throughout the year.

There is also the Kingstown court that is available for training throughout the year.

The National Olympic Committee continues to provide training for coaches in Tennis none of whom have committed to the organisation’s Grassroots Talent Identification Programme (GTIP) to take the sport, free, to youngsters across the nation at least one day per week for a minimum of three hours. Such a programme would unearth the immense talent possessed by the nation’s youth and bring to the fore many more athletes who can at once lift their game, the sport and the image of St Vincent and the Grenadines in the global sports arena.

Netball

The netball fraternity fought for and procured its won home at New Montrose thanks to the indefatigable efforts of Gloria Ballantyne and the Prime Foundation for Sports and a few local organisations including the National Olympic Committee. This facility is its home but unfortunately remains limited in terms of its satisfaction of international standards for the sport as per the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA).

Despite its limitations however the National Netball Centre facilitates year-round training and the hosting of a variety of competitions at the local level without the interruptions created by other activities. It is the sport’s home.

At the Arnos Vale Sports Complex it is possible to have four courts for use by the netball fraternity when hosting competitions. They may have access to one throughout the year.

Netballers do have access to several hard courts around St Vincent and the Grenadines, access to which necessitates competition with a variety of other activities including basketball, small-gal football, cricket and several types of cultural events. The Arnos Vale Sports Complex hard courts fall into this category.

Nonetheless we can still speak of netball having a home that many other sports do not have.

Cricket’s privileges

Of all sports practised in St Vincent and the Grenadines cricket enjoys the greatest privilege.

Perhaps this has to do with the fact that it was once the nation’s most popular sport; a position that has changed over the past several decades.

Perhaps too its occasional hosting of an international match or set of matches that attracts large numbers to Arnos Vale can explain the sport’s privileged position. It is now clear that the nation’s authorities are taken in by the seeming accompanying euphoria.

While Arnos Vale is the nation’s premier facility and the cricket association does not own any the fact remains that the sport enjoys the benefit of primary access to every playing field in the country with the sole exception of the Victoria Park which is under the NLA.

The fact that cricket is no longer the nation’s most popular sport has not changed the foregoing reality.

There is however no commensurate development taking place in the sport that has lifted our players in sufficient numbers to the top of the game beyond the sub regional level in the past decade. This has not yet hit home with the authorities of sport in the country.

Olympic Qualifiers/Team

There were Olympic qualifiers for football, basketball, boxing, table tennis, taekwondo, cycling and volleyball.  Aquatics (which includes swimming) and athletics qualify on the basis of standards, failing which they are each allowed participants at the Olympics.

In the case of swimming and athletics the norm was that each association would be allowed one male and one female participant along with two officials regardless of standards.

The international governing body for aquatics has since insisted that the potential participants must have attended and competed at its World Championships in the year preceding the Olympics. In our case that leaves us with one male competitor.

Athletes in track and field have until 30 June 2012 to make the standards set by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).  The local association still has the option of sending one male and one female athlete to the Games once the NOC approves.

Swimming in St Vincent and the Grenadines has recently acquired its own pool but it is well short of what obtains at the international level. The NOC has been providing assistance to the lone participant to the London Olympics to enable him and his coach to benefit from more frequent competition ahead of the Games.

Following the conclusion of his examinations here he and the coach would travel to Bath, England, to train in the weeks leading up to the Games. This training cannot be had here.

In the case of athletics while there should be more home-based athletes seeking to meet the qualifying standards the lack of adequate facilities, compounded by the inaccessibility of Arnos Vale playing field between 1 November 2011 and 21 March 2012, have not given them much of a chance. This gives the overseas-based athletes an unfair advantage in terms of making the team to the Games if the country is to even look reasonable.

In contrast, St Kitts and Nevis, with a significantly smaller population is the lone Caribbean country where an athletics track of international standard is available to track and field athletes alone to train and compete all year.

Despite the damage wrought to the infrastructure in Grenada by hurricane Ivan in the latter part of 2004 the Mondo synthetic track is still in good enough condition for the athletes to engage in year-round training and competition.

Barbados, where the national stadium is in need of a new track, possesses enough of a synthetic surface to allow for training and competition of a much higher standard than we here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

There is far too much talk and unnecessary promises by our politicians who play games with the sporting youths of this country.

The distinctive bias of the National Sports Council towards cricket remains a major humbug to the development of sports in this country. This is unlikely to change for years to come.

Until such time as athletics, football, table tennis, volleyball, basketball and taekwondo get their own home these sports are unlikely to offer home-based athletes a level playing field relative to their counterparts across the Caribbean whose progress is often cited by our harsh sports analysts and enthusiasts.

Politicians must desist from making promises they cannot keep and instead facilitate genuine objective analysis of the problems and their root causes in order to systematically facilitate change for the better.

Sport is an important vehicle for community development – a truism we are yet to grasp. Sport is a great national development tool.

If only we can put in place those capable of understanding the invaluable role of sport in national development we would be much better placed in participating at the regional and international levels.

In the recent past

The suggestion is not at all new and has been discussed on many occasions and forms part of the existing national sports policy of this country. The problem has to do with the government’s own failure to adequately implement this aspect of the policy as is the case with so many other aspects of it.

What to bid for?

Each national sports association is part of a broader international family. There are also regional components to this family.

Sports associations at the regional and international level have a variety of activities that can be hosted in the country of any of their members, should adequate facilities exist. These activities include Executive meetings of the regional and international bodies, specialised workshops/seminars (athletes, coaches, technical officials and administrators), specific anniversary celebrations and of course, competitions for different categories of athletes.

Why bid?

National governing bodies for sports often seize the opportunity to bid to host some of the activities of their regional and international federations for a variety of reasons.

Promotion of the country

Some seek to host activities because it brings immediate attention to the country on which they are being held. The fact that representative of other countries are attending an activity here, for example, would mean that they would first inform their respective country media of their involvement here. Our local media would also be involved in promoting the activity and inform the regional and international media in the process.

Participants may become involved in promoting the activity and the country hosting it through the social media networks.

An example of how the promotion takes place was our recent hosting of the three One-Day Internationals (ODI). Lovers of cricket around the world received live images of St Vincent and the Grenadines and our people. Add to this the word=of-mouth promotion we would receive from the Australians and visitors from other countries who were here to witness the matches and move around the country.

Infrastructure

Others bid because they wish to persuade the government to finally provide the infrastructure required by their respective organisations if they are to make progress consistent with the established regional and international standards.

This was the focus of the local Cricket authorities in bidding to host the ‘goat cook’ matches of the Cricket World Cup in 2007. It was an opportunity to get the facilities at Arnos Vale the much-needed lift to bring them in line with modern trends even around the Caribbean.

This was again the purpose for seeking to host the recent three ODIs here.

Tennis got its first four courts by dint of the national association’s desire to host regional activities. However, once it recognised that more courts were needed it bid to host the Americas Zone Group 4 Davis Cup tournament. The government quickly provided the additional courts as required by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Boosting the economy

Another factor involved in bidding to host regional and international events relate directly to economic considerations – the amount of money that the visitors would spend while in the host country. This is sports tourism.

A good example is the recent hosting of the Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) and Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) annual General Assemblies in St Kitts and Nevis in November 2011.

The National Olympic Committee/Commonwealth Games Association procured the government’s support and submitted a bid to host the events as far back as 2009 leaving them two years to get themselves adequately prepared.

Some participants came early and left late, spending thousands of dollars in the process. All told, representatives from seventy one countries trekked into St Kitts and Nevis for a minimum of three days. There were more than 500 visitors. Several participants brought their spouses with them.

Hambantota of Sri Lanka and the Gold Coast of Queensland Australia were bidding to host the Commonwealth Games of 2018 and brought large contingents. Hambantota alone brought an entourage of 160 persons while Australia had 50.

The two bidding cities hosted their respective booths at the Marriott hotel, venue of the CGF Assemblies and organised several activities while there that necessitated the employment of scores of Kittitians for the period.

While in St Kitts and Nevis several of the participants would have undertaken tours and engaged in shopping.

In the final analysis it is estimated that more that $1.5m USD were generated over the short period.

Additionally, there is the fact that several of the participants may have been sufficiently enthused to want to return with family and friends to spend a vacation in the twin-island Federation.

Representation

Another reason for some organisations bidding to host regional and international sports event has to do with the possibilities offered on such occasions to get elected to positions on these bodies.

The hosting of regional and international events allows the participants to gain greater insight into the administrative capabilities of the leadership of the host organisation. In cases where the activities being hosted involve election of officers there is always a tendency for the membership of the regional and international organisations to show their appreciation for the tremendous work involved to elect at least one person from the host nation desirous of getting onto the executive committee or other arm of the regional or international organisation.

When St Vincent and the Grenadines hosted the Congress of the Caribbean basketball fraternity the local body gained two positions on the regional organisation, one of which was the position of General Secretary. Sabrina Mitchell was elected to this position and has been making major headway at the continental level. She is a well-respected and hard-working representative of this country at the regional and international levels.

What is needed to bid?

There are many factors that would facilitate the success of a bid. We draw attention to some of them here.

Interest

The national sports organisation must have an interest in the sport enough to be fully involved in the activities of its regional and international activities. No regional and /or international sports organisation would care much for a national association that has not been participating in its several activities over the years. There has to be a record of participation.

Government’s pledge of support

The broad spectrum attendant to hosting an activity of a regional and/or international nature is such that the government of the sports association desirous of bidding to host it must provide a written document declaring its support for the organisation’s bid.

This is necessary since regardless of what the organisation may wish to think there are several areas where success is tied to government’s involvement and support.

In some instances visas may be required. Often times visitors and provided easy access to the country than would otherwise be the case. This was the case when the CARICOM leaders collectively agreed an Immigration stamp that allowed visitors to the Cricket World Cup in 2007 access throughout member States for the period of the event. They enjoyed hassle-free status that to this day the average individual citizen of CARICOM member Stats are yet to enjoy.

Similarly, the government tends to offer a much more relaxed Customs experience for participants in these regional and international activities when hosted.

The government often facilitates having the participants met at the airport and offered a warm VIP welcome to the host country.

The government is often requested to host some sort of reception for the participants.

In some cases departure taxes are waived.

Facilities

National sports associations desirous of hosting regional and international activities must ensure that there are adequate facilities to do so. This is the reason that Arnos Vale had to receive the extensive and expensive overhaul between 2005 and 2007. The recent expenditures – $250,000 – were necessitated more by inadequate maintenance than anything else.

Facilities include adequate accommodation of a certain level/status, easy communications, comfortable and efficient transportation, competent and courteous liaison officers, a most efficient secretariat, easy access to tours, shopping and banks.

Above all the people of the host nation must be sensitised to the activity being hosted enough to play their part in showing the visitors that while a single association may have been afforded the right to host the event the entire nation regards itself as being directly involved.

All too often national sports associations hosting events see the population as only important to procuring tickets. They forget that the visitors encounter the population in several different ways and garner impressions of the entire society in the process.

Conclusion

Bidding to host an event requires great attention and cannot be taken lightly.

National sports associations need to come together to fashion a strategy that would involve the deliberate preparation of the national sports fraternity to develop a cadre with the requisite education, training and competencies to facilitate our venture into the world of sports tourism.

The successes we have attained thus far is reflective of individual efforts and hit or miss strategies. We must do much better than that.

The process of preparation must begin now.

In the recent past

The decision to reactivate the Assembly may well be a good idea in and of itself. Getting it to work is literally a horse of a different colour.

Origins

The idea of establishing a National Sports Assembly (NSA) arose when discussions were taking place on the creation of a National Sports Council (NSC).
The National Sports Council Act No. 9 of 1988 established the organization as the body responsible for the administration of all sports facilities belonging to the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines excluding the Victoria Park. The latter was omitted because it was already under the ambit of the Kingstown Town Board and was seen as the nation’s premier outdoor entertainment centre in addition to being a sports facility. Indeed the bulk of income at the Victoria Park came from shows, inclusive of carnival, held there during the year. Often times the entertainers gained precedence over sporting organisations requesting the same date to host activities there.

Under the Act provision was made for the establishment of a National Sports Assembly that would serve in an advisory capacity to the NSC. This institution was intended to be composed of all of the national sports associations in the State.

While the NSC has been established and in operation since the passage of the Act, the NSA has been operational only for a brief period and without much success.

NSA issues

From inception the NSA found extreme difficulty in constituting itself.

Many of the national sports associations recognised that the NSC was a largely political body. Its membership was determined by the government of the day and this usually translated into a number if ‘politically correct’ individuals appointed to serve on the organisation.

The agenda of the National Sports Council was essentially set by the government of the day and this often reflected the latter’s priorities based on their perception of the voting patterns across the country.

Additionally, it was clear from the very beginning that the membership of the NSC and the organisation’s mode of operation revealed a distinct bias towards the sport of cricket. The eventual location of the NSC at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex only served to cement this view on the part of national sports associations as well as a significant proportion of the Vincentian sport loving public to such an extent that the organisation became popularly known as the National Cricket Council (NCC) instead of the NSC.

Given the aforementioned scenario it was not at all surprising that the NSA membership found themselves largely ignored by the NSC whenever decisions were taken. To a large extent national sports associations ceased to attend meetings of the NSA because they thought that their advice was in no way impacting the agenda and operations of the NSC. They considered the NSA a colossal waste of time.

When members of the NSA complained about being largely ineffective they were told that the organisation was advisory and nothing more.

Hugely frustrated at being ignored the NSA ceased to exist. Attempts at its revival proved futile.

What has changed?

Over the years the NSC has changed in some respects. The organisation is now not only responsible for the administration of the playing facilities but it is the body to which national sports associations must submit their annual request for assistance from the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) to conduct their affairs. This has been a major bone of contention.

None of the national sports associations can understand the rationale for making requests of the NLA through the NSC. The reason is that when the NSC makes its submission to the NLA on behalf of the national sports associations the NLA then makes its independent decision.

National sports associations, anxious to know their fate in respect of their submissions, are told by the NSC that the submissions have been made and that they should check with the NLA. When the NLA is checked then only do the associations know what, if any, has been allocated.

What then was the reason for going through the NSC when the NLA makes a decision independent of the NSC? None that we know of.

An analysis of the current modus therefore it appears that the NSC has no real input in the decisions of the NSC and therefore is a ‘lame duck’ in the process.

One would have imagined that the NSC was mandated to receive the submissions of national sports associations, make an assessment of the requests and make a final submission to the NLA on what each applicant should receive. This is not how it works in practice.

The NSC has also experienced several changes in respect of its membership and leadership over time. The changes in both cases have done little to facilitate any difference in the organisation’s mode of operation.

The idea of establishing Area Management Committees has floundered, largely because of the divisive nature of our national politics. The NSC, ever under the watchful eyes of the government of the day, has been seemingly unwilling to take on board at the area level individuals who are appropriately qualified and competent to manage the facilities in their communities if they are not of the same political coloration as the ruling regime.

Thus it is that after more than 20 years in existence the NSC cannot boast of a single Area Management Committee that has been established and sustained long enough to meet the intended requirements.

We still have the spectre of the field cutting equipment being located at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex, headquarters of the NSC and local cricket, and being moved across the country to maintain the outdoor facilities everywhere. This should otherwise be considered untenable. Unfortunately it is still the norm today.

What is more is that the equipment is not well maintained and spare parts are apparently hard to come by largely as a result of the unavailability of adequate funding to the NSC.

National sports associations find themselves having of necessity to use inadequately prepared outdoor facilities with great frequency each and every year. Little has change din this regard.

All of the foregoing has added to the frustration of national sports associations and their loss of confidence in the NSC and the national governmental sport system.

The case for the NSA

Since the NSA collapsed several years ago respective ministers of sport have adopted different strategies to reaching national sports associations.

Mike Browne created a Sports Advisory Committee. This body met infrequently and the national sports associations were never treated to the courtesy of an explanation as to how its membership was determined. Decisions were hard to come by and consequently difficult to implement. In the end the Sports Advisory Committee operated much like the National Stadium Committee in its later stages – meeting to confirm minutes of the previous meeting.

In his later return to the Ministry of Sport Mike Browne then started having meetings of national sports associations, seemingly called on impulse rather than the result of a systematic plan. This never led anywhere.

Newly appointed minister responsible for sport, Frederick Stephenson, obviously wanted to make an impact on sport and would therefore wished the NSA reactivated. One is not certain about the future, however given that the government seems to be playing musical chairs with the sport portfolio and has once more placed it in the hands of Cecil Mc Kie.

Whether McKie would want to continue along the same vein as Stephenson is anybody’s guess. He may want to make his own pathways following on from where he left off prior to the 2010 general elections when he thought he was going to retain the portfolio.

The National Sports Council Act has to be reviewed to reflect the changing times.

The NSC operates with an outmoded system.

Inadequate policy, inadequate staffing, inadequate funding all combine to leave the NSC inadequate to service the needs of the national sport development process. This is the reason why the organisation, for example, has no one capable of preparing anything but cricket fields. No one on staff can lay out a football or rugby field to ay nothing of an athletics track and areas for field events.

For the NSA to be successful it has to have a complete overhaul. To begin with there must be a clear policy framework that guides its structure and more of operation. Members must get a sense that they are meeting to discuss issues of national developmental importance and that their decisions are taken seriously. Any deviation from such an approach would inevitably lead to the same frustration that plagued the organisation in its infancy and left if still born.

Arrangements must be made for the NSA to have a presence on the NSC when matters emanating from the former are being addressed by the latter. This is imperative if the members of the NSA are to feel that their decisions are being adequately addressed.

In the absence of the NSC’s own clarity regarding it mandate especially where the NSA is concerned it would require a meeting of minds to affect the change that is needed.

The NSC cannot remain as something of a political ‘patsy’. It must be perceived as autonomous enough to guide the national sport development process in the collective best interest. Only then would national sports associations take an interest in the reactivation of the NSA.

On Saturday last

Scheduling

For the past several years it has become clear that there is little by way of planning by the West Indies Cricket Board WICB). While the International Cricket Council (ICC) seeks to establish its tours over time the WICB seems unable to convince anyone of its own programme in an appropriate time frame.

It has become normative for the WICB to wait until very late to determine where matches are going to be played and this even for our own regional competitions. This leaves the local cricket boards in a quandary.

In the current case of the 2012 Australian tour of the Caribbean the WICB seemed to have hinted since last August of the possibility of matches being allocated to St Vincent and the Grenadines. Nothing specific, and in writing, came from the WICB to the local board before November 2011. By this time Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines would have submitted its Calendar to the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Ministry of Education would have long since determined its schedule for the annual Inter Primary and Inter Secondary Schools Athletics Championships.

Neither the Ministry nor Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines were officially communicated with in respect of the West Indies versus Australia ODIs being scheduled here. They heard it on the media first and later by word of mouth.

What has happened over the years is that the NSC essentially takes it for granted that since Arnos Vale is first and foremost a cricket facility any other sport that uses the facility has to understand that it must shift its programme once regional and international cricket are proposed for this country. There is no consultation. It is a fiat that cricket takes priority.

The NSC must rise to a level of professionalism that allows for ongoing consultation since the facility is often used by other sporting organisations some of which are able to plan well ahead, unlike cricket.

Facilities

St Vincent and the Grenadines is not particularly blessed with high level outdoor sporting facilities. Indeed this is one of the areas of weakness of successive governments and the current regime is in no way different.

The Arnos Vale Sports Complex was originally designed as the home of cricket. At the time cricket as the most popular sport in the country and the opportunity existed for this country, with a high quality cricket arena, to access matches of an international standard. This is all understandable.

One recalls the battle that took place between cricketers and footballers over the Victoria Park after Arnos Vale was created. It was obvious that the cricket authorities turned a blind eye to the fact that over time football was the sports major challenge in terms of national popularity. The football fraternity simply adopted the stand that cricket could not get the two best facilities in this country and leave the fastest growing sport in the country on the outside looking in.

The end result however is that cricket got its home at Arnos Vale while football and athletics have been left to fend for themselves wherever they could get a surface, regardless of its size and/or status.

The NSC has itself not been a model of good planning.

When this country agreed to accept the ‘brown paper bag’ package of ‘goat cook’ matches for the Cricket World Cup in 2007 the NSC in tandem with the government and cricketing authorities here took control of Arnos Vale # 1 and # 2, the Stubbs and ion Hill playing fields. There was no consultation with any other sporting body in this country in respect of that undertaking. It was simply assumed that given the international nature of the competition everyone else would understand what was happening. This has been the approach, generally.
It is therefore not surprising that other sports associations desirous of using the Arnos Vale playing field have all come to an understanding that they are tolerated rather than facilitated. Regardless of the level of planning in which they engage cricket is priority.

Field conditions

When we were preparing for the ‘goat cook’ matches nothing was spared. There were monies seemingly available in abundance. But the planning again fell short.

While there was much talk of legacy the reality has proven otherwise. The Stubbs playing field is today a ‘dust bowl’. Grasses of all sorts overrun the Sion Hill playing field. Arnos Vale # 2 remains a mixed bag with no one really in a position to explain what is happening there. These are the legacy items that must concern us.

Prior to the Cricket World Cup preparatory exercise Sion Hill was one of the better kept playing surfaces in this country, capable of holding two cricket wickets – one dirt and one turf, and hosting football and athletics competitions with relative ease. Since the conclusion of the ‘goat cook’ matches Sion Hill has been a veritable mess.

The Grammar School playing field has been an expense account for several years. The problem has been management. Perhaps the best time experienced by this field was when Orde Ballantyne was responsible for its management. At least at that time there was some semblance of planning. However the facility has since returned to its former days despite several undertakings to upgrade it.

The fact is that the Grammar School playing field is exposed to the largest number of users on any given day. There are four secondary and two primary schools surrounding this facility and each of them seeks access. In the afternoon the community and several teams and clubs take control. One would therefore have imagined that this facility would receive constant attention akin to what is often reserved for Arnos Vale # 1. No such luck!

The Grammar School playing field is treated as a secondary or third level facility when it could easily have retained a high level status with appropriate attention.

It does appear that there is no sustainable plan for our playing fields. The politicians see them as a necessity to appease the youths in their respective constituencies and then ignore their conditions between general elections.

There is no management plan in place for maintaining these playing fields and over the years the equipment purchased have been essentially based on a ‘hit or miss’ approach rather than expert advice.

The monies expended on Arnos Vale for the Cricket World preparations remains obscene when one observes the current status of the facility, to say nothing of the tons of equipment lying waste, ostensibly awaiting the procurement of parts without knowing if and when they would be purchased.

Field preparations

Once the NSC received word that this country would host three ODIs in March of 2012 the facility of Arnos Vale # 2 was closed for extensive repairs. No one can really quarrel with the extensive repairs and upgrade necessary for the quality of the competition involved. The fact however is that this should not have been the case.

The NSC has never, since the Cricket World Cup, had a plan in place for the marketing of the facility to generate income to even remotely approach what is required for its sustainability. The government of the day has been unable to provide adequate resources to the NSC to facilitate appropriate maintenance of the facility.

The Local Organising Committee for the Cricket World Cup that had promised so much by way of legacy delivered so little that they left the facility without any of what was on offer to this very day.

The care that has been taken to pull personnel from other areas to focus attention on Arnos Vale for this year’s ODIs is commendable yet remarkable. No other sport is accorded that amount of attention by the NSC when Arnos Vale is requested.

We have had regional and international football played at Arnos Vale and never once has that facility been prepared with half as much attention as is being devoted to the preparations for the ODIs.

Perhaps the fact that the facility has to pass rigid tests by scrutineers including the ICC and the Australian team has something to do with the level of preparations but that should not be the case. We should recognize the importance of ensuring that the field is always maintained at the very highest level. This has nothing to do with others using the facility. Facilities are made to be used not remain locked up. They must however be a=cared for and this must emerge from a detailed long-term plan for its sustainability. Were such a plan in place all users would readily have acquiesced. The same holds true for all of the other facilities under the care of the NSC.

The NSC must understand that failure to plan is a recipe for planning to fail.

Had adequate planning been done the St Vincent Grammar School playing field would not be such a health risk to the athletes. The NSC may not be aware of the extensive work undertaken by chiropractor, Edmund Sealey, to correct athletes using this facility to train, on a weekly basis. They experience serious dislocations that have to be corrected. They suffer as a result of the unevenness of the surface.

Months are allowed to pass before the holes are filled at the Grammar School playing field.

Competencies

The major problem plaguing the NSC is one of competencies.

The NSC is in need of comprehensive restructuring. The current structure cannot meet the needs of the St Vincent and the Grenadines sporting community today.

There is an urgent need for an appreciation of what is required for the NSC to be an organization that can carry the mandate of managing the sports facilities in St Vincent and the Grenadines. There is an urgent need for a broadening of the structure so that appropriate expertise can be acquired to facilitate ‘horses for courses’ within the organization.

There are no competencies in marketing to assist with promoting the facility across the globe. There is need for expertise in all aspects of the organization and an expansion of its mandate.

The government must review its decision to retain a Division of Sport while also having a National Sports Council, especially when the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.

The time has come for sport to be brought on the front burner of national development and not be treated as some adjunct. The continued tagging of sport to a most cumbersome and clumsy set of ministerial portfolios leaves this important developmental facet out of the loop of a genuine commitment to national development.

On Saturday 7 January

This week we reproduce as our weekly Column my entire presentation as the President of the organisation.

Welcome

Dear Friends, protocol having been established it is necessary for me even at this stage of the proceedings to extend a very warm welcome to all who have responded so positively to our invitation to join us today at this our Annual Awards Ceremony.

Messrs Rawlson Morgan and Leroy Llewellyn, Games Secretary and Chair of the TASVG Road Race Commission respectively, have already outlined our programme for 2011 and the prime achievers have been duly rewarded and congratulated. I need not repeat any of their presentations here.

This year we have chosen as our theme, Youth Athletics and Our Future. Our guest speaker on this occasion, Lennox Adams, would explore in great detail the issues attendant to this theme. But it is incumbent upon me in my capacity as President of Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines, to explain why we have come to the stage where we can insist unapologetically on our youth athletics programme as the future of our sport in St Vincent and the Grenadines without allowing it to be an old cliché.

Gideon Labban

In 2011 we were unfortunate to have lost the services of Gideon Labban, our Technical Director of long standing and a committed coach to the development of our youth athletics programme.

For the past two years of his tenure here he focused on getting teachers and students around the country, however remote the area, to witness and practice the fundamentals of our sport. He spent time teaching and training in every place possible, what can be done with the local resources to get children into running, jumping and throwing – the fundamentals of track and field athletics.

Michael Ollivierre

As Labban left our shores we had the good fortune of the return of Michael Ollivierre, who distinguished himself in Jamaica as an outstanding coach with special emphasis on hurdles and distance running.

Since his return Ollivierre has been an indefatigable protagonist of youth athletics.

He has thus far found himself at almost every school sports meet and could be seen at each of these writing down the names of the talented athletes on display, following up with them, getting their contact details. More than this and importantly so, he touched base with their parents and/or guardians.

Ollivierre, like Labban before him, and like Rawlson Morgan, Rosmund Griffith, Alrick Wright, Walford McKie and Santa Cruickshank and Godfrey Harry, used personal finances to assist athletes with getting to and from training sessions.

His aggressive manner in pursuing talented athletes has led him to become the object of much criticism from coaches, athletes and parents alike. Some may argue over whether or not the criticisms are deserved but one thing is certain, his commitment to seeking out and developing young athletes remains unchallenged.

TASVG has never turned its back on anyone willing to go out into the field eagerly seeing out talented youths and encouraging them, their teachers, family and friends to be part of the progressive development in which they are involved through our sport.

Relationships

In 2011 we again headed the Athletics Sub Committee of the Ministry of Education Schools Games Committee that planned and administered the greatest Inter Secondary and Primary Schools Track and Field Championships in the history of this country in terms of overall presentation.

For the very first time TASVG brought in a team from Trinidad and Tobago to undertake electronic timing and photofinish facilities at the Inter Secondary Schools Championships.

Competitions abroad

During 2011 we have participated in the Central American and Caribbean Juvenile Championships in Tortola, BVI, for children 11, 12, 13 and 14 years. We participated in the annual Carifta Games in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the World Youth Championships in Lille, France and the Pan American Junior Championships in Miramar, Florida, USA. These were opportunities for our youths.

We took our junior athletes alongside our seniors to the Zenith Meet in Tobago as well as the national championships in St Kitts/Nevis, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

While they have not excelled, we are certain that the opportunities afforded them allowed for an appreciation of what is expected of them and the competition they are up against.

Our seniors have unfortunately sold us short. While we have attained some successes they have generally been well below expectations. This is not to say that their contributions have gone unnoticed or unappreciated. We value what they continue to do for the overall promotion of our sport.

Resources

It would be remiss of me if I did not dwell for a moment on the challenges with which we are constantly faced.

Playing surfaces

In the absence of a national stadium – of which we have no idea when one would be constructed – the athletes have Arnos Vale # 1 as the best facility for preparation. This area is not our home and therefore we can expect to be told of closure at any time. Indeed, earlier this week we were informed that the venue is closed through to the end of the three One Day Internationals on 20 March 2012. The impact of this is devastating and spells doom for those athletes and coaches hoping to engage in adequate preparation for regional and international competitions this year.

We have no quarrel with cricket or the National Sports Council. We have always had an excellent relationship with both.

We have a problem with the insensitivity of our authorities in respect of the provision of a national stadium.

We will nonetheless continue to work with the National Sports Council to ensure that we do have access to an appropriate place for training and competition while the main Arnos Vale is under preparation for the major international cricketing encounters.

Equipment

TASVG has been left to procure the bulk of the equipment needed for our young athletes. However we have also insisted that schools and in particular our Multi Purpose Centres can produce local equipment that can serve our athletes’ needs just as well. Calvert Shortte at the Biabou Methodist School has done very well in this regard with equipment for the Kids in Athletics Programme. He has been particularly creative in his use of locally produced materials and has twice captured the top honours at the National Kids in Athletics Championships – a feat he is not willing to give up any time in the near future.

Walford Mc Kie at West St George Secondary School has just produced the latest set of training hurdles in this country using PVC. Others have been so engaged as well and we hope much more will be achieved to facilitate increased equipment access for our youngsters.

Coaches

We have trained hundreds of coaches over the years and will continue in 2012 to do more of this. But we ask more of those we have trained.

We urge you to work diligently. The youths of this nation stand to benefit when you work with them in developing their athletics potential.  There is immense joy in seeing athletes learn new skills and progress through to success.

Coaches, come on board. Let us all, together, collaboratively, Go Athletics.

2012

This year would witness a greater level of commitment to the youths involved in athletics.

St Vincent and the Grenadine snow has its own electronic timing and photofinish equipment making hand timing for our major activities a thing of the past from this year onward. Thanks to the National Olympic Committee we have all this new equipment in our country. This is indeed an historic achievement and we remain eternally grateful.

There would be two coaching courses during the year. One would be the IAAF Kids In Athletics and the other the IAAF Level II. This will increase yet again the number of trained and IAAF certified coaches in the country.

There would be more equipment procured to facilitate aspects of our sport in which we are weak including the use of starting blocks, hurdling and the field events – high, long and triple jumps, shot put, discus and javelin.

We would be represented at the OECS Invitational and the St Kitts Nationals in St Kitts, the Trinidad and Tobago Nationals, the Carifta Games in Bermuda over the Easter weekend, the CAC Junior Championships in El Salvador, the NACAC Under 23 in Mexico, the World Juniors in Barcelona, Spain, the World Indoors in Istanbul, Turkey, and of course the Summer Olympics in London, England.

At home we have a packed programme that should serve to prepare our athletes but now that we do not have access to Arnos Vale until late March we would use alternative venues that are not of an acceptable standard.

Opportunities are plentiful but we must work together to achieve greater success.

Conclusion

We will continue to work with what is available to us – interested athletes, committed coaches and playing fields regardless of their condition.
Nothing shall derail our quest to be the leading national sporting body in St Vincent and the Grenadines and the nation’s most successful.

We are grateful to all those athletes and coaches who have worked during 2011 and look forward to your continued involvement in 2012.

We thank the parents and teachers who have supported us along the way.

We thank all those, especially the sponsors and volunteers, the Red Cross and police, who have assisted us over the past year. We look forward to your continued commitment and support.

Thank you and a happy new year to all.