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Reviving sports in Barbados: Lessons from CARIFTA Games

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A smiling man wearing glasses and a suit against a red background.
Noel Lynch, Athletics Association 

All Barbadians are pleased with the improved performance of our young athletes at the recently concluded CARIFTA Games. However, this is not the first time our youth have shone brightly on the regional stage. The blogmaster recalls Wilan Louis – once one of the most promising quarter milers globally after clocking 45.91 as an 18‑year‑old – only to fade from the scene just as a promising career beckoned.

The problem in Barbados remains the same, we struggle to harness raw talent and convert it into sustained excellence at the highest level. Our limited resources and small population are real constraints, but we can clearly do better. Too many of our sporting associations are still led by long in the tooth administrators, operating with outdated systems, management acumen and zero accountability. If we were to do an honest assessment, many of these associations have been in a state of terminal decline since the 1980s and 1990s.

It should be obvious by now that sports has received little more than lip service from successive governments, who understandably prioritise education and health in the national budget. Some will argue that sports does nothing to move the GDP needle or drive economic development. Yet, as stated too many times in this space, a vibrant sports program and the activities that flow from it are essential to national health and social development. Barbados is a high NCD country. Any attempt to shift our culture toward healthier living will inevitably improve public health outcomes. There are also the many opportunities sports creates for our youth; educational scholarships, and economic mobility.

Then there is the matter of brand recognition. When our athletes perform on the world stage, Barbados benefits. It lifts the confidence of a whole nation: our national pride. These examples are not exhaustive.

The blogmaster recently listened to the loquacious President of the Athletic Association, Noel Lynch, boasting about a plan to revive track and field in Barbados. The Mia Mottley administration has perfected the art of turning most things into PR opportunities. That said, the blogmaster hopes the government succeeds in implementing a structured sports programme grounded in a relevant Strategic Plan. Our CARIFTA success should be a true beginning and NOT another fleeting moment

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4 responses to “Reviving sports in Barbados: Lessons from CARIFTA Games”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Carifta inspiration for Barbados

    LOOK AT WHAT one inspirational moment can do to transform the psyche of a nation.

    The victory of the Under-20 boys in the 4×400 metres relay at the

    CARIFTA Games in Grenada may have lifted many of us higher than we have ever been before. Inadvertently, it may have taken us on a spiritual journey we didn’t plan for.

    That extraordinary performance on Easter Monday probably made the average Bajan believe they could attempt to walk on water. It was that surreal, and whether or not they realised it at the time, the unit of Nadal Seale, Aidan Moore, Jahkye Brewster and Shamari Greenidge-Lewis has been immortalised in the annals of Bajan sporting history.

    The video of the race has been shared extensively on social media and continues to be a catalyst for us to do something positive with our lives.

    Too often in our formal and informal discussions, we don’t acknowledge the true benefits of sport and that’s why it seems merely incidental, and not the means to a transformative and fruitful end. It is time we wake up.

    The other thing about the Carifta success is that it brought home forcibly that not all youth are idle and useless in a society that is generally judgemental and self-righteous.

    Largely, we sit on the fences waiting like true naysayers and predators to condemn rather than commend our youth and then we ask: “How they get so?”. If we take a deeper look within we can find the answer to that question.

    Just make the time.

    Because of the manner in which it was achieved, the 4×400 relay victory overshadowed other major accolades, but in reality the collective effort took us to a place that made us realise we have plenty to work with, we just need to give them the support, not only when they triumph but provide the appropriate means that would come very close to guarantee some sort of success and cause the entire country to feel that we can overcome any form of adversity.

    Pride and industry

    For example, we had to see the pride and industry in the performance of Ashlyn Simmons, who signed off her CARIFTA experience spectacularly with victories in the Under-20 Girls’ 800 and 1 500 metres. It was a rare feat.

    I was moved by what can be considered the best non-medal performance of the games – Laila Mcintyre’s lion-hearted display in the Under-17 Girls 1 500 metres. She skilfully took on the Trinidadian duo and even though she finished fourth, her performance was a masterpiece in planning and running strategically. Her silver medal in the 3 000 metres was a wonderful measure of compensation, far above consolation.

    And whenever did we have personnel to conquer in both the Under-17 and Under-20 boys’ shot put? That’s what I’m talking about.

    There were some very special moments that ought to have indicated that we are on the right course to develop our athletes to the next level.

    It is just a matter of will, belief and foresight that can get the ball rolling.

    Tangible reward

    Our sportsmen and women over the years, across the board, have put in the work but often, after a “feel good” moment, what they have achieved is negated through neglect and disrespect. We are at the point now where we shouldn’t ever go back there.

    Good work needs feasible and tangible reward consistently.

    To its credit, the Government is showing positive signs that they are on board with the upward trajectory of sports. The upgrade of various facilities and the willingness to invest financially in the social capital is proof that things are about to change for the better.

    The Athletic Association Of Barbados (AAB) must be applauded for its developmental programme, which it set up in conjunction with First Caribbean Bank and other associates. Such partnerships can’t be underestimated, as it broadens the landscape to include as many as possible.

    At times, it seems that the accomplishments of our CARIFTA swimmers are downplayed or watered down, but I don’t think there is any deliberate malice involved. It’s just that locals tend to identify more with the athletes because track and field is regarded as more of a mass-based sport. It’s easier for people to support who they know on a first-name basis.

    That’s the reality.

    However, it doesn’t mean that the media shouldn’t make a greater effort to ensure that swimming gets the same or similar type of coverage as the athletes for CARIFTA. We must have the right balance to make every willing soul believe and know that their efforts in nation-building are appreciated.

    When Dr Allyson Leacock was general manager at CBC, she ensured that CARIFTA swimming was given a vivid and graphic platform so that it won’t appear as though the discipline was a second cousin to athletics. As a result, a videographer and I travelled with teams to Curacao, the Bahamas and Jamaica to give that spotlight.

    Today’s media managers have to be strategic going forward to make everyone happy.

    It was still great to see that the swimmers also got a tremendous homecoming welcome to celebrate their 47 medals at the Games in Martinique. They were definitely part of that phenomenal week when sports motivated us to become something better than we were before. It can’t be ignored ever again. Let this success form part of our muscle memory.

    Andi Thornhill is an award-winning, experienced freelance sports journalist and broadcaster. Email: andithornhill@live.com

    Source: Nation

  2. Terence Blackett Avatar
    Terence Blackett

    SERIOUSLY???

  3. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Maybe ‘thee’ country really needs a Jesus, like the old people use to say.

    For at every juncture weeee seem to be running after things that use to be or that weee wished were. What a way to live in the past, an Alice in Wonderland at centre.

    Within these popular longings are never the ancient traditions of the Afrikan. Then again the accusations of nostalgia will be raised. But you’ll never be nostalgic when pleading about Whiteness, White cultural norms.

    Maybe its time to remind readers of aspects of the society which continue to improve.

    And if there are none or only a few as compared, then, maybe another reality, a truthfulness, will become known, widely!

  4. David Avatar
    David

    True value of sports goes beyond numbers

    zoom-in
    For many Barbadians the highlight was the performance of the Barbadian athletes at the recent

    CARIFTA games. Barbados finished fourth in the overall medal standings behind Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas. Barbados brought home 17 medals. We beat last year’s haul of 14 medals. This included six gold medals, which head coach Desiree Gamble said in the press might be our best performance in ten years.

    There was a large cheering crowd on hand to welcome the star Bajans home. Athletics team manager Angela Jackson expressed to the media how surprising, overwhelming and appreciated the welcome at the airport was. These young athletes have been embraced as the epitome of “this is who we are”.

    Did you note the language of the first paragraph of this article? “Barbados” finished fourth.

    “Barbados” brought home 17 medals. It might be “our” best performance in ten years”. There is something about great sport performances that inspires a sense of collective identity like few other activities. This is quite literally, priceless. These athletes have done a service to the nation that cannot easily be quantified or accounted for in dollars and cents. But priceless is not the same as cost-less. And this is the dilemma. Can and will we pay the cost to produce that which is priceless, when the return on investment may not be immediate or even tangible?

    If we can’t, then we can’t and the answer is easy.

    But with things like this, can or cannot is often a question of priority and perspective. It is our mindset that dictates what is important to invest in and why. If the mindset is that there must be a quick or easily accounted for return on investment, then sports and arts are not attractive investments.

    Very often a large percentage of the cost of Barbados bringing home the priceless medals is borne by the athletes and their families. There is not much financial reward that comes with a gold medal at the amateur level.

    Feel-good moments The return on investment for the nation when a Barbadian performs exceptionally well on a regional or national stage comes in terms of a rise in national morale, a solidifying of national identity, the generation of cultural capital. It is a contribution that many people [play down] as simply hype, or feel-good moments. However, there are stories of crime going down during the holding of big sporting events because the criminals become engaged as fans and spectators like the rest of us.

    The arts and sport impact societies in ways that even when they are not directly money-making, they help money to be made.

    Head coach Gamble was quoted as thanking the Athletic Association of Barbados’ youth programme, the personal coaches, and the parents of the athletes.

    Adrian

    Green

    Assistant coach with responsibility for relays, Alwyn Babb, was reported as saying that a relay team has at least six persons on it and Barbados entered nine relay teams. This highlights that there are athletes and others whom we may never see in main events, but who are nevertheless instrumental to the team’s success. This pulling together of people is priceless.

    And then there are the fans whose emotional investment can drive great performances. What is the metric for the emotional tone of a nation?

    If our mindset is strictly about the bottom line, or we only value the data that can be reported in numbers, we will never see the true worth of arts and sports. And the money we do invest will not really garner the return on investment we would hope for. There is no machine, no formula, no science for measuring the rising spirit of a people, their growing consciousness and sense of self. This is the priceless contribution of artists and athletes which has not yet been maximised because we are still fine-tuning our senses to think beyond the digits, the dollars and the cents.

    Adrian Green is a communications specialist. Email: Adriangreen14@gmail.com

    Source: Nation

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