Revisiting the club concept in SVG

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In other cases clubs may emerge out of schools. This was the case of the once popular Mitres netball club. The club emerged from a particular team at the College and stayed together. For many years the club adopted a policy of staying with only past students of the Bishop’s College Kingstown, much to the envy of the rest of the netball fraternity. But the objective was not bad. Most clubs seek to ensure their sustainability though securing a feed organisation.

In the case of the Sion Hill club the feed was the community of Sion Hill. For the Mitres netball club the feed was Bishop’s College Kingstown.

There have been instances where teams have become clubs. Having played together for some time and some bonding takes place, some individuals may see the importance of establishing some permanence to their relationship as a grouping as well as commit themselves more deliberately to the sport in which they are involved. They agree on a constitution and an appropriate structure.

Clubs are generally more stable than teams and are expected to have in place systems of accountability that can be verified. There is reord-keeping.

Today’s reality

All of the major sports associations in St Vincent and the Grenadines now find that their competitions are dominated by teams. Thereby hangs a tale. Because of their weak and largely ineffective structures teams do not have the staying power of clubs. Not surprisingly therefore one finds that half way through a football or netball tournament a number of teams that began the competition with great gusto suddenly begin to absent themselves from games, losing by default. Often the problem is related to their inability to meet the financial commitments placed upon them by necessary travel to compete. This makes a mockery of many a competition.