Since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Trinidad and Tobago in March 2020, it has been a difficult period for this country's sportsmen and women. Twenty twenty-one was an even tougher and more challenging year than the months in 2020 when the world relentlessly tried to come to terms with the virus and understand what it was all about.
This year, T&T took its largest-ever contingent of athletes to Tokyo to compete in an Olympics that was, in itself, historic having been postponed from 2020 and before the team boarded the plane, two athletes and an official tested positive for COVID-19 which must have affected the entire T&T squad. History would show that T&T came away from the Olympics without a medal and there were many reasons or perhaps excuses for this put forward by the officials; one being that it was a young team of athletes and a few of the debutantes had good showings in their respective events. Two of them, in particular, are long jumper, Tyra Gittens, and shot putter, Portious Warren, and much is expected of them going forward.
So, let us agree that it was a young team and that come 2024, T&T can expect better from its athletes but I am hopeful and also concerned that the Olympics are not being used as part of the development process for this country's athletes. These games have the best athletes on the planet competing and it is like sending lambs to the slaughter if that is the idea. There are many other games in the region and extra-regional that can be used to assess the young athletes and to know if they are ready to compete at the highest level.
I felt the T&T team was not properly prepared and again, through no fault of their own, the pandemic took its full toll on the sport locally and athletes couldn't train when and how they wanted and to get some consistent training in preparation for Tokyo, many athletes had to go abroad but in some cases, that still was not enough. Let us hope that although Paris 2024 seems a long way off (but really it's not), in the case of an athlete, preparation will be much more intense than it was for Tokyo.
As the pandemic continued to affect all sports in this country, the rest of the world slowly started to open up to various sports. The football leagues in Europe had already opened up but were being played behind closed doors with no spectators being allowed. This has changed drastically for the 2021 - 2022 season when games are being played in front of packed stadiums. Players have been fully vaccinated but unfortunately, with the latest variant of the virus - Omicron - the English Premier League has been hard hit with many games in December being postponed. But credit must be given to the English FA as they have not cancelled or postponed the entire league programme, but instead have issued strict guidelines to clubs with daily testing of the players and club officials. In other words, what they are saying is that sport has to go on. We cannot hide behind this virus and lockdown every single solitary sport as it has already become traumatic for youths who are pleading to get out there and compete. The authorities in this country must take a page out of this book. The virus is clearly here to stay and adaptability is key in moving forward.
Credit must also go to athletes like Nicholas Paul and Dylan Carter and many others who are abroad testing their skills with high-quality opposition as that is the only way they will improve; staying here will simply not cut it. On this point, they are able to afford to go abroad and support their development. Many athletes, unfortunately, do not have this luxury and have to remain here and the only outcome is to have their growth stunted. That being said, both Paul and Carter have been superb this year and while both still have a lot of work to do, Paul seems to be on the breakthrough of something really positive in cycling. I must admit I am not sure how much more work Carter needs to do to be reaching the pinnacle of his sport but I wish them both good luck as they continue to make the people of T&T proud.
It is time to open up sports in this country in 2022. All the old talk has to stop. It is only fair to our athletes. We cannot just allow training for our national athletes. What is happening to the many youngsters who are on the verge of making their national teams in their respective sports? They would have now spent the better part of nearly 2 years not competing in leagues and more importantly, not testing themselves against their peers and how much progress they have made.
The two major sports in this country, cricket and football, have been shut down. The Pro League and Super League both seem a distant memory. On the other hand, in Jamaica, not only are they playing professional league football, but they have also started their secondary school's league. No wonder they are competing in the final stages of World Cup qualification and their schoolboy league seems streaks ahead of their T&T counterparts. Surely, the powers that be can find out what were the guidelines the Jamaicans used and implement similar guidelines here and get our football leagues started again. What a joy it would be to see the secondary schools league back up and running in 2022.
National league cricket and regional cricket have been suspended, yet we have players from this country going out there to represent the West Indies. Why can't we resume local cricket with the clubs being given strict guidelines ensuring all the players are fully vaccinated? Why can't the local representatives on the board of Cricket West Indies strongly recommend the resumption of the four-day regional tournament? There are many young players I have seen in this country who are on the verge of stepping up to the next level but with no cricket, they will find alternate avenues and may very well be lost to the sport. It will sadly serve as the equivalent of a brain drain in sport locally.
Before closing, I have just read where no spectators are being allowed into the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. What a travesty. Surely fully vaccinated spectators can be allowed in to show their support and perhaps at 50% capacity? Both the Queen's Park Oval and the Brian Lara Academy have corporate boxes away from the players with separate entrances; surely, they can be accommodated to view the games. The Oval has been designated a safe zone and I am sure Lara and the Diego Martin Complex can do the same. Let us hope the ICC can be persuaded to allow spectators in as we cannot continue to hide and hope the virus goes away. Closing our eyes and expecting this virus to go away is being completely naive. What should be the focus is ensuring testing is free and easily accessible to all but at the moment, it is simply not and it is continuing to stunt so many facets of society.
Finally, let me wish everyone a happy and bright New Year and please, let us get the sport in this country up and running in 2022.
Editor's note
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.
