Hockey humiliation

IN THIS country’s enviable and burgeoning history in the sport of hockey, there are few episodes more humiliating than our failure to appear at the 2025 Pan American Cup in Uruguay.

According to the Hockey Board, the fault lies with the Ministry of Sport. According to the Ministry of Sport, the fault lies with the board. Buck-passing and financial wrangling are all that have emerged from the statements and excuses issued by both entities on July 23 and July 24, respectively, in explaining this dispiriting outcome.

In sharp contrast with the administrative incompetence is the sheer prowess of our hockey players.

To secure its berth in Uruguay, the men’s team had turned in a sensational performance at a precursor tournament last September. Sharing licks all around at that qualification event, it defeated the home team Peru 6-0 in the finals. It obliterated Paraguay 13-1, Guatemala 11-0 and was undefeated by the end of its table-topping outing. The team was poised to make an impact at the championships in Montevideo, where this country medalled in 2013 and came close to medalling in 2017 and 2004. Bitter is this late-hour withdrawal.

And costly. All the players sacrificed for years to get to this point.

Pan American Hockey Federation rules also suggest a withdrawal penalty of $40,000 could be in play, plus forfeiture of a $20,000 deposit and “any reasonable quantified financial losses incurred by the host.” All of this might equal the amount which, according to the ministry, the board owes the state. That reported debt, and not just a late funding request, is apparently the main reason money was withheld.

But the actual price is the emotional setback to the local game caused by this embarrassment on the international stage – not a first. Only recently did young Tobago athletes miss a meet in Nicaragua because of a vaccination card mix-up. A spate of tennis events surrounding the prestigious Davis Cup was also cancelled this week due to the non-disbursal of funds. A message is being sent to the world: don’t take Trinidad and Tobago seriously.

It’s a slap in the face to hockey players like Teague Marcano. It’s a disservice to the legacy of trailblazers from the past like Stacey Siu Butt and the team that won silver at the 1967 Pan American Games led by Pat Gomez.

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts has expressed “disappointment with the situation” and correctly noted that “it is the athletes that pay” when sporting bodies err. Mr Watts, in office only a few months, is right to be vigilant about what he terms “financial and compliance matters.” But was this the right moment to go on the defensive?