The World Championships in Moscow has again highlighted the need to support our athletes if we want them to succeed. Support though must be fair, honest and transparent and not filled with typical favouritism, where friendship and partisan is given priority over success and quality. These continue to be symptoms that I have observed both at the 2012 London Olympics and the current World Championships. Our athletes believe that their cries are being ignored in terms of financial support, based on the existing flawed system of elite funding. If one was to conduct a survey among those in authority in the Ministry of Sports and the Sports Company on the system for funding, there would be different explanations, some complicated, others just confusing.
In speaking with several Jamaican journalists at these Games, it was amazing to listen to the passion and teamwork they each seem to believe in. In Jamaica, when a question is raised on an athlete, it is dealt with expeditiously I am told and to the satisfaction of the athlete.
Jamaica, it would appear, understands the value of sports, whereas in T&T we understand and pay homage to the value of money more than sport. When you listen to the horror stories told by athletes who bring pride and joy to this country, it makes you wary and sad of the state of administration of sports. But who can the athletes turn to...you...me...or just themselves? To be successful is not only about ability, it is also about being able to ensure the correct things are done, from training, to diet and other physical and health related issues. It is when we as a people, all of us ignore these issues, that we leave the athlete vulnerable to the many evils that exist because of the stench of fast money and a fast life. In that regard, we all need to be our brother’s keeper in ensuring the safety and welfare of our athletes, even if we do not like their mother, their father, their uncle or their aunt for one absurd reason or another.
The latest incidents of athletes in Jamaica and T&T being investigated for drug enhancement cannot be tolerated. We must ensue that all athletes are made aware of the strictest guidelines.
There is a fear that the rest of the world is only too eager to point fingers at our athletes because of the growing success and when you add a phenomenon like Usain Bolt winning all before them, you are guarantee a lot of attention. To his credit, Bolt has not complained. He understands the power of marketing and promotion. Recently one of the T&T officials expressed the view that there is growing potential of youngsters in this country, each with different skill sets and upbringing, but to ensure they have the ideal athletes life, they will need funding and mentoring. In most cases, neither exist and the only way for an athlete to succeed is to leave our shores and head to the United States where he or she will become a slave to the respective universities and their coaches.
We do not offer our youngsters enough of an opportunity to study at UWI.
At the moment 400 metres hurdler, Jehue Gordon, is the only one in Moscow who is staying and training locally and there is little doubt that it is progressing in a timely and efficient manner.
There needs to be more publicity on the success of Gordon while he is studying and training under the watchful, caring and parental eyes of his two coaches—Edwin Skinner and Dr Ian Hypolite.
If this is made public, there is a strong possibility that we could stop losing our top athletes to overseas universities with overseas temptations and coaches/managers with no loyalty other than to the mighty US$. We must not allow what I have witnessed at these championships to continue where persons who love their country and love representing and giving their heart and soul for T&T are treated like second class citizens because they either know nobody or know somebody who is disliked by the administrators in charge of funding. When this happens, the athletes and their parents lose faith in the system, and begin to question whether the sacrifice that is being made by child and parent is honestly worth the effort.