I am tired of this long talk. where the hell is the sport tourism strategy to take the various sport forward. Firstly there is a need to construct multipurpose administrative buildind for the various sport discipline staffed to service all the disciplines. Government and the private sector can fott the cost of constructing the building and it subsequentlt handed offr to the sport administrator who will be responsible collectively for the paying of the electricyt and water blls among other things.

Before the yearly stipen is given to the sporting bodise, they shoud have to produce a development plan for the sport, as well as a marketing strategy. And. only when that is done should funds be released. Fund should not be gven to sporting organisation if the sport does not maiatain consistency in performance over a specified period. Too many sporting bodies send tems overseas and they produce poorly and all type of excuses are offered for this performance. THE BOA should not only be funding olypic sports, but all sports, if its charter prevent it from doing so, some of the pittance from the lott funds should be used more for non-olympic sorts.

I am quite aware that we need to invest to get returns. In this regard, we need to nationalise the lottery. NO PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL SHOULD BE BENFITTING FROM LOTTERY EARNINGS. Let sport and culture benefit.

Businesses should be encouraged to carry outstandin sportmen/women on their payroll and this would no doubt be deductible wxpense.

The mony spent on large delgations could be put aside to assit the sports men. There need to be new blood in the BOA who can think radically. Over the last few years what have happened to, netball, basketball, football,hocey among others. We continue to either remain stagamt or fail to improve our ranking regionally.

I am most disappointed that, besides andrea, oba and Ryan, we have not made any inroads internationally in sports. Countries like grenada, st. kitts, st. lcia and antigua seem to have moved ahead in athletics and football. We need to have new administrators in place to move the sports forward.

Congratualtions to the caribbean athletes who have done the region proud. I will end on a sad note by condemning Bolt;s behabiou in not showing team unity when jamoca won the men’s relay. It was not a bolt effort, but a team effort yet his selfish behaviour was evident. Can you imagine on each accosion he was successful, his team mates were literally ostracized by him before he congratulated them, not so with the pompuse americans.

Who elects the BOA executive headed by Steve Stoute?

2012 Olympics are over Barbados returned home empty handed as usual, apart from one ocassion 2000 when the legendary Obadele picked up a bronze. The constructive critics have put away their pens . Steve Stoute and the parasites at Boa have resumed “duties”.

Us laymen are at a lost as to what “duties” they actually do on a daily basis. What we do do know is in 2016 when Rio rolls around Stoute and his crew Brugga, Esther and the rest will hop on a plane first class if you please jet off for Rio and the junket starts all over again.

As per normal Barbados officials will outnumber the small team of athletes in Rio. Barbados will not earn not even a bronze medal, Stoute will proclaim ahtletics is not getting support although he runs the main support agency. He will give a stuffed shirt interview looking pompous and important. Barbados will remain the perennial laughing stock of Caribbean athletics.

Stoute will return home things will be dormant until 2020 when he and his officials fly off to wherever the Olympics are taking place. The tiny squad Bajan athletes will go win nothing return home and the unproductive beat goes on until 2024 when———-well youve got the drift by now.

A late response to Balance – I was not part of the Barbados Official Contingent to London 2012. I paid my way to London and as an Olympian, was a member of the management team at the Olympians Reunion Centre (ORC) hosted by the World Olympians Association at the Wellesley Barracks, home of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. And yes, I did media features as well for The Nation. Had done TV coverage for Sydney 2000, and radio reports for VOB from Athens & Beijing. While in London I also did presentations to young people from the surrounding areas on Olympism and to visiting University students from the USA studying Sports Management. The ORC is the meeting place for Olympians at every Games since Atlanta 1996, and we socialize, watch the competition, host meetings of member nations, interact with organizations and young people from the host nation, and facilitate media events.