Submitted by Wayne Pilgrim-Cadogan
I am sad as a former national athlete at the state of athletics in Barbados, and to see that we are not progressing in athletics or any other sport for that matter. After watching the Boys under 20, 400 meters at the recently concluded 2015 BSSAC Championships and to hear the commentators ranting and raving over how well the athletes are performing in running 48 seconds. A Jamaican 15 year old two weeks ago at the Jamaican Nationals ran 45.34 to break Kirani James World Juniors record and we here jumping up at 48 seconds. In the 1960’s Barbados school boys were running 48 seconds for the 440 yards at Kensington Oval on a grass track. Today, athletes have access to better equipment and running facilities and yet year after year, the same old mediocre times are been run and with minimal improvement.
It appears that the spectators believe that by having music at the games would make the athletes perform any better; unfortunately I cannot see that happening. Each year it the same cry for music by the spectators, I do know what the music is going to do, make the athletes run faster? Well I do not think so; it is not a party or carnival, why do we always have to be different from the norm. What is important is that the various sports administrations should be looking at ways and means to see how they can improve the standards of or athletics and sports in general.
For starters, Barbados needs to have a proper stadium, and not like the pig pen we call a stadium in Waterford that is a national and international disgrace. When was the last time that anyone could recall a world class athlete coming to Barbados to compete? I certainly cannot recall of any since the seventies, not even the Trinidadians who are just next door or the Jamaicans. Grenada is 30 minutes away by plane and Kirani James the Olympic champion has not competed on these shores, mainly because of the facilities. In order for our athletes to improve, they need to have competition and proper coaching which Barbados does not have, except for a couple, with the most successful in Barbados being the Lester Vaughan coach. There are approximately 12 track clubs in Barbados and yet at the Senior Nationals Championships, in some races only four athletes lining up in a race for a straight final and in some cases none at all or the boys and girls having to run together.
It is my opinion and I do believe that the main reason for the lack of improvement in our sports, are the administrations and the administrators who seek election to these various bodies for the free trips and perks, not because they love the sport and want to see the development of sports in Barbados, but their own personal gains. A few years ago an administrator said to me that they have seen the world at the expense of the sporting body that they were affiliated with. Well, I sincerely hope that Barbados can at some point turn around its sports woes if they ever hope or want to achieve success on the world stage.
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