Source:www.guardian.co.tt
Things That Matter Column written by Brian Lewis
There are a couple things we need to keep foremost in our minds when we talk, think or discuss sport—it could be sport in T&T or international sport. What we see on TV and read in the media and internet is 90 per cent professional sport. Professional sport is or should never be considered a reflection of sport on the whole. Nowhere in the world will grassroots sport develop without dedicated volunteers. Amateur sport remains a reality and will not survive without a base of volunteers willing to commit their skill, knowledge, time, energy and money. There are individuals who have a passion, love and desire to give back to their country, society and community through sport. In the past those individuals were plentiful in T&T.
As we celebrate the season of goodwill, and for Christians the birth of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, a Christmas wish and prayer would be for a huge influx of gift wrapped volunteers.The concept of professionalisation and commercialisation of sport cannot be taken out of context.
Taking solutions from other countries without a clear appreciation and understanding of the realities, strengths and weaknesses inherent and apparent without first putting in place the foundation and infrastructure that supports professional and commercial sport is akin to a death wish. At this time T&T lacks the culture, facilities and market orientation required to sustainably support a commercial sport sector. This is not to say that sport cannot be efficiently and effectively managed and administrated. It can and should be. The mistake that must not be made is adopting a commercial mindset without the enabling infrastructure and systems. There is the potential to build a vibrant sport business—in particular sport tourism—sector.
However, there are few sports that can meet commercial prerequisites. Sport administrators must therefore objectively look at the realities of their respective sports. Third world and developing countries require a dedicated Government policy that will facilitate sport and professional sport. The challenge is that many third world governments seem to orient to the view that facilitating sport means controlling sport, and the decision making and election process within sport. A problematic situation when the tendency of the international governing bodies is to frown upon government interference. It therefore requires a mature, sincere and honest approach to the issue. Don’t for one second sit on your arm chair and assume that it is simple. It is not! A critical ingredient for viable and sustainable professional sport is television and media. There is not one media house in T&T fully committed to sport. The sport department and journalists are usually not well resourced.
Without television revenue opportunities, professional sport will be a bust. Professional sport requires spectators. T&T supports events not sport. The people who support sport are those who play sport. T&T is not the UK or USA where attending supporting sport is part of the cultural and national DNA. Any move to a professional sport environment must make sense. Otherwise nonsense will result and hard lessons will be learned. The victims as always will be the athletes and the youth. Christmas is the season of goodwill and an opportunity for those who believe that negativity and fighting personal battles are the only way to function in life, to adopt a new way of thinking and behaving. We live in a beautiful country with wonderful citizens. This Christmas let us dedicate ourselves to advocate for what we want and to be the change we want to see. Let us not allow the minority and the miscreants to spoil our beautiful country and quality of life. Remember keep Christ in Christmas. Let moderation be your watchword. There is a morning after.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Brian Lewis is the honorary secretary general of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee.The views expressed are not necessarily those of the T&TOC.