Why start with President Mrs. Maynard, why not the Minister and work you way down.

Look it may be that the Olympic franchise in Barbados in “privately” owned. If this is so, attaching National significance to an Olympic agenda may be misplaced.

My thoughts:

– (sadly) Test cricket is dead. Maybe for other than India, Australia, Pakistan and England, all cricket is dying. Is IS over for the Windies, not from a talent viewpoint, but that other sports and avenues are now more important to the citizens, potential participants and spectators.
– as athletics, remember Wes Hall, Sobers, Lara, Holding, all began as alternate athletes, the first three also being excellent soccer players and the last a 400 metre runner. Talent has different avenues, cricket was the best available then, this has changed.
– athletics, Mrs.Maynard has always been there working and working, do you really think others will take up that mantle, willingly and wholesomely? I have my concerns. I will not join the critcism of her.
– Management structure and costs, I agree this needs to be looked at. Someone like Mrs.Maynard keep, get rid of other freeloaders.
– Structure, needs to support athletes, who cannot (I know this for a fact, from more than one locally top current athlete and one young top current amd potential future star) find the funds to travel and compete, which they need to develop, something is wrong, when they are getting funds for athletics from ther lotto.
– sports and society – Barbadians have not supported sports much in the past, and they do not do so consistently now.Barbadians do not support their own like the Jamaicans and Trinis, in Barbados yuh get ‘who he /she tink he / she is, want money tuh travel tuh USA tuh compete..steupse). Barbadians are poor supporters of their own. One has to go ‘outside’ to achieve success, i.e. American University or such.

An athlete in Barbados MUST work and comete, they will not survive after without a job, so they are thus compting as amateurs against athletes competing only, already a disadvantage.

Conclusion: Without the American University scholarships, Barbados will not get any future medals.

It’s not in the nature of Barbados officials in any endeavour to learn from other more successful countries or enterprises. Barbadians have a self-annointed “superiority” such that we don’t need to learn from anyone. That’s why we are slipping back in tourism, exporting, even international business. Don’t even mention sport!

Remember that Cable and Wireless used to pump a lot of money, a small portion of their massive Barbados profits into cricket, they no longer do that.

Note another point, is that in the good ol circket days, if a man played for Windies he had a come and go job at one of the islands big companies, no questions asked.

Athletes today no longer have that luxury, so to compare those past glory day guys to those now is a unfair.

And yes, as per Peltdownman, the clique that is Barbados has its pecking order, that is the largest issue, note all the lawsuits at football, cricket etc, when the fellas fight for the spoils, at th expense of the sport.

Egos and cliques run Barbados.

My daughter was a former Barbados athlete and all I can say it is all about the officials and not about the athletes. Mrs Maynard has worked hard and probably the hardest working official in the AAA. She alone cannot change what has been happening in Athletics She is doing what she can do and many times alone. Yes many of the officials haven’t a clue and are in it for the ride. Talking about rides, one year the team was attending a meet in Texas and flew into one of the main airports. Then they had to take a 3 hr bus ride to El Paso got in after midnight while the officials flew to El Paso and got their beauty sleep. My daughter had to compete early that same morning after a few hours sleep. The conditions these athletes have to endure are rough. She was injured during an event and was told that she had to continue. Many of the other athletes asked her why was she still there with an injured hand that was swollen.

All we have is mouth and talk is cheap and we are full of hot air. We will never get anywhere until there is financial commitment, to discard all political connections and favoritism. I will recommend all local athletes look elsewhere for training and representation because they are not important until they make headlines. Take Ryan Brathwaithe, he has been trying to go on without much financial assistance. Yet money can be found things that are not as important. We ent ready yet! Just a whole lotta hot air!

We are still trying to become the envy of the Caribbean and working hard at it too only to become the laughing stock. We are known only to have one love and that is the love for money… that says everything about us.

Crusoe, those in track in Bim disagree with u, in fact the President lives in the 70’s and is THE PROBLEM, what people say is that because she is white then she can raise money and get things done, but that has not been proven, in fact nothing is being done athletes are suffering, and she has many a bias, people like u with those armchair comments bout leave her are what is compiling the problem, and killing track in Bim

I will not mention names but I was on a flight into Barbados from England and an adult official with a young boy player came away from the group of young cricketers and tried to sit in our part of the cabin. The stewardess would not allow it, she told him to go back with the group, he thought he was something special. I smiled only in Barbados . . . . . so much for team spirit.

Yardbroom

Call the name nah ..

Heard on the news the Minister Stephen Lashley is off to London at the taxpayers’ expense. Another unnecessary waste of foreign exchange. Doesn’t the country already have enough official representation at these games?

Maybe if Ryan Brathwaite emulates Kirani James the Minister’s visit might just be worth it.
The popularity of Usain Bolt at the London games has started to pay huge dividends to Jamaica with an unprecedented enquiries and bookings to visit the land of the Lightning Bolt. Crime and drugs are no longer of interest to visitors only the BOLT effect.
Maybe Lashley could put aside his short man syndrome disability and take a photo with him standing next to the Bolt with Ryan on the side. Besides its humorous effect it can be used as a sporting PR plug to show the world that we in Barbados means business when it comes to making sport especially in the BOA and the AAA. We will wait and see if the promise of a revamped stadium will materialize and actually start next month. Or should it be taken in the same light as the promised Integrity and FoI legislation before the coming elections?

@BAFBFP

Have to agree your last comment is on point? By investing in the development of two or three of our most promising athletes the return can be very high to the benefit to the country a la Bolt Blake. But it does not even have to be at the Blake level?

Ooops Shane falls

David

Thank you for the support. But there has been an elephant in the room for as long as I can remember. The CIB is once again another huge waste of tax payers money, probably adding up to ten million dollars when all of the bills have been tallied, (legal fraternity again, plus senior civil servants’ time over ten years and counting), another classic excuse to keep certain types in pocket at the expense of everyone else. My point is that if athletes, agriculturalists, food processors, manufacturers (designers/fabricators/assemblers) and all other types of PRODUCTIVE activity are seeking support from the highest public officers they should form their own damned party …. fah real!

WHY is the Minister of Sports at the Olympics ?
WHAT de ass he going there to do ???
Run ???
Wasting Tax-payers on shite that is what it is—- Str8 .

Lashley left today Tuesday for the Olympics
Per diem ?
Free Travel ?
Friends ?
Cant beat being a Minister, dont mind Steve Blackette talking shite

The Minister gone to England to talk to the Olympic people about introducing Road Tennis in the next Olympics in Brazil. It is very official business …

Just read the linked article
Thank you BAFBFP

Is there anyone with the cojones to call AAA or BOA to find out if with 4 quality sprinters/hurdlers in London will Barbados field a 100m relay team. St.Kitts with a pop of 38,000 has a sprint relay team in London.
High hurdlers are extremely fast flat runners and the Bajan foursome, the hurdlers and Ramon Gittens, could ask some questions of a few of the teams other than the Jamrockers and Yanks.
It wont be a surprise if the useless officials living large in London already turned down the assembling of a sprint relay team.

Cheupse!! what start out being comments on the advancement of Track in the caribbean and why Bim is left behind now end up wasting time with idiots trying to score political points,you see why sports can’t get any better bout here? What the hell a minister have to do with team admin, selection or treatment of athletes, this is not at his level, shit man, this is about selfish ass little people running the BOA and organizations like AAA who make sure they take what athletes work for,has the aaa tried to provide funds for olympic hopefulls? when last we see an international meet in Barbados? Cheupse!! Leave out Lashley nonsense Cheupse!!

All this article seems to serve is for folks to get their knives out to carve up individuals, do these issues only surface only when the Olympics roll around?

Let me address the gist of the submission first “Sporty Bajan” asserts “Just the mere fact that the West Indies Federation has been over since 1962 is enough indication that West Indies and Cricket is now an ancient concept, long past its glory days”

I have been very critical of WI cricket and its administrators but it seems that someone has become “googly” eyed at the Olympics and wants to discard Cricket for some pie in the sky. There is old saying “a sheep head a day is better that a Cow head a year”. If WI cricket didn’t exist in its present form the powers that be couldn’t put it together today, they can’t even reach consensus on an Appeal Court to serve the region but we are to abandon cricket for some nebulous pursuit.

Sporty Bajan continues “What Cricket has once given us Track has now surpassed. Olympic Games 2012 – Caribbean Domination Women’s 100m = Gold, Bronze, Men’s 100m = Gold, Silver, Men’s 400m hurdles = Gold, Bronze, Men’s 400m = Gold, Silver, Bronze”.

First of all those medals in the 100 metres were won by athletes from one country -Jamaica- the 400 metres hurdles was won a an athlete who represented the Dominican Republic but was actually born in the Bronx, went to school in the USA and lives in the USA; the 400 metres was won a Grenadian who could be described as an outlier, it will be a long time before a small island produces another athlete of the same caliber. There is only one island in the English speaking Caribbean that garners the world’s attention when it comes to athletics and that’s Jamaica whose athletes have been winning Olympic medals since 1948. Trinidad has won one Gold medal (Hasley Cawford 1976) Sure another island may produce an exceptional athlete who will win at some future Games a la Kirani James but to abandon Cricket for “Track and Field” is a ridiculous notion and borders on the farcical.

Hi Checkit-Out, August 7, 2012, @ 6:36PM

I hear all you say and thanks for your input. However, I have travelled long enough – as I am sure you have – to “understand” a conversation with regard to seating that took place in a seat in front of my wife and I.
“I” will let the matter rest.

Hi islandgal246
Ryan Brathwaite is looking good. He was second in his heat but “note” his time was faster than the other heat winners. However, in the High Hurdles anything can happen. . . fingers crossed.

@ David (BU) August 7, 2012 @ 7:43PM
Perhaps, this is only a guess, the Minister feels there is a chance for Ryan Brathwaite to do well and wants to be in London. I could be way off-base so I should say that.

@Sargeant

The bottom line, we don’t have to produce Blake like athletes, just have a solid sports program where our athletes can find scholarships and or access opportunities at universities in the USA and other countries around the world. The opportunity by such an approach is greater for our youth than it is for cricket. Not saying we should dismantle cricket but the opportunities for young Bajans in sport is greater than the unifocus we have for cricket if we judge by resources expended. The CWC2007 is a case in point.

@Sargeant, ”but to abandon Cricket for “Track and Field” is a ridiculous notion and borders on the farcical.”

——-

Sorry Sarge, but it is not about abondonment. It is about market, demand, supply, ability to compete.

The market for cricket is more and more just India, Australia and England.

Cricket is over, sad to say, both from a market available and from our declined ability to compete.

And David is right on sports program and scholarships. And we should not limit ourselves to track, other individual sports that get scholarships like tennis, soccer (our plauers can play for multiple teams, soccer is the true international sport.

And neither should we limit ourselves to USA scholarships. The English country cricket fiasco should prove that.

How about scholarships in China, Russia, France, Germany, Israel and Brazil?

Gain understanding and contacts across the world for future Barbadians.

That equates to political and business ties across the world!

Crusoe

What if the University of the West Indies or U of T offered scholarships for athletics/swimming or other types of non-academic endeavor as well. The international nature of what you are saying is not lost on me, but what about keeping your otherwise gifted people at home where they could train and have access to meaningful academic scholarship as well? In other words, why should the offering of scholarships be left to outsiders alone …?

@BAF,

Excellent suggestion! We can have both, local and international! I agree wholeheartedly.

Because it is limited to a few.