Unfortunately, sports are not often seen as something important, and I think that is where we are having the problem. Sports is also a social skill, and it encourages people to work as a team. You have to learn to live with people of different races, different classes, different religious backgrounds, and so on—Peggy Castanada-Phillip.
Although played by men, women continue to be the force that drives the sport of netball in T&T. Still the only national team—men and women—to have won a World Championship. That historic achievement—joint winners with Australia and New Zealand—happened in 1979 right here on the twin island of the of the Republic.
Just three teams have lifted the Netball World Cup trophy in the tournament’s history.
Two of them are powerhouses of the sport, Australia and New Zealand, but the third, T&T, has struggled at times to make it back into the top ten rankings.
That Netball in T&T suffered a decline since the commanding heights of 1979 and the early 80s is a case study of T&T—the socio-economic, class culture with an intersection of race. Netball is considered a grass-roots sport not fully embraced by the middle class and upper class in Trinbago society. The knee-jerk reaction of many to such a declaration is to make it an angry black person fixation. When it isn’t. Instead of dismissing it out of hand, give it deep thought and analysis.
Ask the hard questions. The main one being, why did T&T netball not build on its World Championship and become a world netball powerhouse?
There will be a diversity of opinions. However, because we do not appreciate the importance of history, understanding it, and learning from it, we continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over.
Sport mirrors life. Our sports history mirrors life on the Twin Island Republic. The problems we are facing—crime in particular, finding the right questions to ask, and hence creating solutions that can make a difference—can be found in the history and sociology of T&T sports.
Rat-a-Tat, Rat-a-Tat corn, and more corn. Bullets are flying without mercy. Fifteen (15) murders in a weekend of blood. Hapless and hopeless best describes how the majority of law-abiding, right-thinking citizens of T&T are feeling.
While many were more interested in the Euro, Copa America, and Wimbledon finals, there were a minority of Trinbagonians paying attention to the efforts of the Under-21 Calypso Girls as they battled to qualify for the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup at the Americas Qualifier event at the Centre Sportif Et Culterel Paul Chincon in Julliet, Guadeloupe. That they did qualify, battling back from two disappointing back-to-back losses to finish third, shows their resilience, determination, and perseverance—attributes that have been a feature of T&T netball throughout its history.
T&T Netball Association president Sherry-Ann Blackburn said the team worked hard to make this dream a reality and credited T&T’s head delegate Joel Young-Strong, coach and former national player Kalifa McCollin-Lopez, and manager Vanessa Forde for their leadership.
For patriots such as Peggy Castanada-Phillip who understand the power of sport to make a positive difference in T&T, the importance of the U-21 Calypso Girls qualifying for the U-21 Netball World Cup is a glimmer of hope not only for netball but for all of T&T.
In a weekend of blood and death, the U-21 Calypso Girls provided a moment of joy and a reason to smile.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in the preceding article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation in which he is a stakeholder.