Unanswered questions in sport

LENNOX FRANCIS

TO THINE own self be true. Sport is still the opium in these challenging times so TT must face reality and be honest with its answers:

Are we going to continue to train as amateurs but participate in professional events? This is playtime for officials who love to dress their athletes as gladiators but know inwardly they are sheep led to be slaughtered.

Is it our goal to join the ranks of professionalism? In TT professional sportsmen and women do not live by what they play and therefore have normal jobs to earn a living. They still drink mauby, eat doubles and lime. The rigours they go through are not an introduction to the real thing called professionalism.

Are we destined to be amateurs? We like a good oil-down, coconut water as chaser, a river lime or swing in a hammock until the day expires.

The road to stardom forks right to professionalism and left to the amateur kingdom. The former is highly competitive needing a different mindset, as the saying goes “a beast mentality,” and a commitment to intense training. It can only be sustained with large amounts of finance, highly qualified and competent personnel and a database to archive performances. The Ministry of Sport has to be supported by a battery of paid, efficient officials. Voluntarism is not one of the pillars we can lean on here.

The amateur route can be a remodelling of the once-upon-a-time Prime Minister’s Best Village format. The keynotes were all-inclusive, enjoyment, relaxation and voluntarism.

Presently, we are cockroaches in fowl party. The world of fast-paced professional sports is outrunning all that dare to travel at snail’s pace. We are cavemen marveling at the rapid development of sports in the digital age. We keep building facilities, participating in major world events, attending conferences, seminars and training sessions believing that we are right on target.

The occasional podium finishes are delusions that we are keeping abreast. Our answers to mediocre performances and failed attempts: “We did pretty well…we coulda dis and coulda dat…a little more preparation and we right dey.” With every new thrust the finish line like a mirage remains beyond our grasp, keeping our hopes alive so that we will not give up in despair.

Undoubtedly, we have had numerous successes in sports but look at the pathway. Talent was discovered and nurtured locally and then exported to a foreign farm in time to bloom. We finance but there is no blood, sweat and tears to finalise the product. Nevertheless we claim the glory and the praises that belong to the Maker and the foreigners. One thing we do have right is to reward the athletes for their efforts.

How long are we going to continue the culture of having our best athletes migrate to greener pastures? That trend further deprives our multi-million facilities of usage and the developmental coaches of the knowledge and experience of putting the icing on the cake.

What is the utilisation rate of the national assets devoted to sports? A guestimate is 25 per cent because I feel ashamed to put it lower. It means that over 75 per cent of the times administrators are in their air-conditioned offices and not an athlete on site even to witness the elements batter these white elephants into dereliction.

Are we prepared to forgo the short-term glory and pursue long-term all-round development? Every sports minister, administrator and coach want success on their watch. Even the ten gold by 2024 is a dream we want to live even though not home-grown.

Are we going to buy, beg, borrow or steal a world champs programme from our more experienced counterparts or go into the trenches and build our own?

Is a sports school or academy necessary as a starting point? If so, in this academic-driven society we will have to assure our parents/guardians that academia is not going to be abandoned in favour of extreme sports.

Will we still need the expertise of the foreigners? Yes, but only for one or two terms and then we must cure ourselves of the dependency syndrome.

When will sports and academia co-exist in this society? We can only boast of succession planning when national teams with a mix of Olympians and those yet to receive the baptism of fire are churned out in droves on a regular basis.

Yes, there are more questions than answers and recommendations.

The winds of change, unlike the annual hurricanes and storms, must be welcomed to our shores.