Submitted by Wayne Cadogan

I wanted to write this article after the 2004 Olympics in Greece as a result of promises made by the then President of the Barbados Olympic Association which have been constantly repeated previously, Olympics after Olympics. This is now twenty years later and our sports program is in a worse state now than back then. Many promises made and no action or follow up to the promises.

What I am about to say is the truth and I know that my fellow countrymen do not like to hear the truth. I am more than saddened by the state of our entire island sports program or lack of across the entire board. Actually, I am hurt to the core to see that there has been very little progress since the 60’s and 70’s, but a decline, so much that the so call small islands has surpassed us by leaps and bounds in all sports.

I am mainly directing my comments to athletics as a former athlete, although it is the same for all the sports across the board in terms of progress. First, I am going to start with the National Stadium. Barbados is the only island that does not have a stadium and as a result, there has not been an international track meet in Barbados since the 1990’s. Over the years there has been a lot of promises by both Government administrations regarding a new stadium, and that was all talk and no action. I am going to be very blunt, and the reason why there is no serious push for a stadium, it is because there hasn’t been one single government Minister who was involved in any form of sport at the national level or any level, except for Barny Lynch.

I have been advocating for a new stadium for years now and had proposed that a sports complex be built where the now Botanical Gardens across from the old stadium is located. There are about six functioning Botanical gardens across the island and I really did not see the need for another, especially at that location, which seems to be more for fetes and picnicking. The area is big enough to accommodate both a Sports Complex and still have the Botanical Garden or for whatever other uses.

The real reason for the poor performances in sports is because we do not have that passion for sports like the Jamaicans, Bahamians, Trinidadians and some of the so call smaller islands. In just a few short years Grenada has three Olympic medals, including a gold and five World medals, we still bout hey jumping up about a bronze medal. Sports in Barbados is just recreational across the board and not taken seriously on a year-round basis as far as training goes, only during the specific season.

The Athletic Association of Barbados lacks vision and direction. Nothing has changed from the sixties in terms that it is about themselves and not the athletes regarding the trips to shop and the perks. An Administrator once said to me that they had seen the world at the expense of the then AAA. It is very sad that there are a large number of track clubs and yet when there is a track meet, there are hardly any heats but straight finals. That is the reason why when our athletes go overseas to compete, that they seldom get pass the first round and if they do, it takes everything out of them trying to qualify.

There is one incident which haunts me to this day when an Administrator said to me regarding Adelbert Browne who was our marathon champion and had good competitive times, that he cannot represent Barbados because nobody in the Caribbean can compete in no International marathon. But it was not that he couldn’t compete, it was for other reasons and those of you who knows Adelbert would know the reason. The association has a history of sending twice as many so call officials to meets as athletes and this has been going on from the sixties.

I find that our young athletes do exceptionally well at the Primary School level, in all sports, but when they do get to the Secondary Level that there is a tremendous fall off in their performances and that is where we are losing their talent to go on. The few who make it and may get a scholarship, some of them seems to fade away after their first year for some reason. In most cases, they are not able to balance the academics and the athletics

The coaches, there appears to be a great number of so called theoretical coaches who lack the practical expertise and that is why one cannot see the results except from the Hurdle and Jump coaches. Coaching is not about just giving athletes distances to run or times, it is about fine tuning their techniques to improve their event. The majority of the athletes have very poor technique which can be clearly seen when they are competing.

The reason why Jamaica is so far ahead of all the islands is because they have that burning passion as well as some of the other islands, which Barbados does not possess. The other reason is that they have a sports program. From September they start their entire sports program from Primary School through High School and from January they start their competition every weekend leading up to Champs. Each meet is sponsored by a Corporate Company and in many cases each school is sponsored by a company. That is why their competitive edge is so great and superior in the region and the world.

In fairness to the government, one cannot not expect them to carry the burden of any sports program. It is a shame that the young people of this country and their families who support Cheffette, Massy, the Service Stations, Barbados Light and Power, Insurance Companies and a host of other businesses weekly and not one of them can give back to community by sponsoring a track meet or a road race annually. What Barbados needs are more local track meets on a consistent basis to provide that competition which is the key to achieving that competitive edge. It cannot take five thousand dollars to sponsor a track meet and if five or six business would sponsor a meet each, then and only then that or athletes would improve in their performances.

I must touch on one more burning subject. How can a Director of the Barbados Olympic association have a Director on its Board and living in another country? True that this is the age of technology in terms of zooming and WhatsApp, but what is so amusing is that that same individual got the most sponsorship of any athlete representing this country and stated on occasions that he did not get sponsorship and criticized the same BOA. I had to state this because of the comparison of the individual and Adelbert Browne and that is the society that we have always embrace, even today!