Coaches must face up to the challenges

Cyclists have long since yearned for a velodrome and have only recently been able to access permission to use the roads. 

One indoor facility in keeping with international standards would serve the needs of basketball, netball, table tennis and volleyball, sporting disciplines that would otherwise attract thousands, yet this has not been recognised by the National Sports Council.

The national stadium would serve football, the nation’s most popular sport, athletics and rugby. Here again, it is all about politics.

The lack of vision by the political directorate in respect of the invaluable contribution of sport to national well being and to the enhancement of the nation’s image in the international community is a perpetual scourge on the young people of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Affiliates report that even with their own problems associated with the coaches
whom they have had trained there are enough who come forward but whose work is stymied by the inadequacy of the facilities.

Website

A tremendous amount of work has been undertaken on the website of the NOC that is www.svgnoc.org. A quick perusal of the site will reveal some particularly important features. The website now has the interviews done with some of this country’s leading sport personalities, Gloria Ballantyne, Michael Findlay, Victor Peters, Orde Ballantyne and F.O Mason.

The intention here is to ensure that people in St Vincent and the Grenadines, especially students engaged in physical education, can become aware of the achievements of Vincentian sportspeople. This can perhaps serve as motivation to our coaches to work more deliberately to assist current and potential athletes to raise their level of enthusiasm for and participation in the different sporting disciplines.