Source: guardian.co.tt | Brian Lewis
Over the years, Caricom politicians, in the main, have paid lip service to sport. Most view sport, sportsmen and women, and sporting success as mere tools to boost political popularity and credibility. Politicians, especially those entrusted with a popular mandate to govern set the example, style and tone for what goes on in a nation. Their decisions good or bad have far reaching generational consequences as people do what people see. How serious are we about sport development and sporting excellence? What does excellence mean? Is it a destination? Why define or narrow it down to a measurement of functionally utility? Over the years we have seen the Caribbean’s potential as a region and as a people hamstrung by the rise of political entrepreneurs whose singular focus is on seeking their own interest.
Who is left to articulate our dreams and aspirations? Where are we to find the motivation and inspiration? Here in T&T, Hasley Crawford, the man, is a symbol of what we can achieve when we get serious and gave it our all. The Hasley Crawford Stadium is a theatre of dreams, a dream factory as is the T&T Pro League, every sport club and national sport organisation. Sport is about creating and empowering dreams and dreamers.
Those who are involved in sports because of their passion for the game and an understanding of how important sport is for the morale of people must not allow themselves to be betrayed by those who are in sports for the gaining of political opportunities and influence. In the countries that do well at sport, it is an integral part of the lives of their citizens, on par with politics, business and academia. It is not placed on the margins of society but is considered a tangible asset, a key driver of people and economic development in manifesto and national policy statements. Caricom leaders must first stop seeking to protect their carefully constructed reputations. While it is their right to protect their image, it cannot be entirely on their own carefully selected terms.
Caribbean societies must embrace the moral responsibility and courage to not be complicit and compromise the moral high road when faced with indiscretions and the frenzied and calculated efforts to manipulate the public view of those indiscretions. Politicians must be mindful that when they appoint themselves arbiters of what is right or wrong, there are many vantage points from which to view the moral equilibrium, and sport is one of them. Once politicians get involved, sport becomes a lost cause as the loss of ethical and moral values comes from the top especially when confronted by text book analysis, academic theories and rhetoric.
For Caribbean governments to acquire the moral authority to fix sport, they must first fix themselves, their political conduct, thought and vision for their respective societies and nations. A good place to start is to accept that we all face the human temptation to hide from ethical responsibilities and stop trying to fool followers by making what is unethical seem perfectly ethical.
Og Mandino once wrote: man is most comical when he takes himself too seriously. John Maxwell also alluded to similar thoughts when he wrote “self-conscious people are rarely good leaders. They focus on themselves, worrying how they look, or about what others think.” That’s the problem with myths once the talking stops charlatans are revealed and found to be woefully lacking. How then can those who lack a vision for sport in the first place possess the thought leadership, creativity and imagination to solve the problems that bedevil sport, not just cricket, in the region?
Brian Lewis is the honorary secretary general of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee http// www.ttoc.org. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the TTOC.