Human Resource Planning critical to the future

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The analysis of the state of sports in St Vincent and the Grenadines reflects the paucity of the planning process.
St Vincent and the Grenadines has become far too political in the wrong sense, and in almost every aspect of life.
When once we have thought that the realm of sport would have escaped the travails of narrow party politics it seems that the battle has been lost and the country runs the risk of a blighted future dictated by patron-clientelism.

Government’s Focus
A recent interview with one of this country’s leading sports personality revealed a partiality towards Jeremiah ‘Jerry’ Scott as perhaps this country’s best Minister of Sport.
The sports personality highlighted Scott’s genuine love for sport, his propensity towards understanding the importance of sport to those involved and to the society and his genuine desire  to be of assistance to a segment of Vincentian society that was particularly important to the nation’s future.
Unfortunately though, Scott did not always get the type of support from his Cabinet and government colleagues to take sport to the higher levels to which the Associations and their athletes aspired. It was Scott who ensured that government paid up outstanding dues of three of the five national associations that came together to establish this country’s National Olympic Committee in 1986.
But Scott’s problems relative to assisting the sport movement’s progress in the state were exacerbated by the absence of appropriately qualified, trained professionals in the twin disciplines of sport and physical education who were allowed to effect a sport development policy framework and the concomitant strategic options that it necessitated.
Successive Ministers of Sport appeared hampered by the aforementioned limitations as well. That is not to say that there were not some qualified persons around, some of whom were quite committed.
Even when the post of Director of Physical Education and Sport was created the government remained unclear in respect of precisely where it wanted to take the twin disciplines and of their role in the broader development process.