http://www.guardian.co.tt/sport/2012-07-08/influence-sportsThe influence of sports
Published: Monday, July 9, 2012
Hugh HendersonMajestic, exquisite, ballet-like, incredible Spain—please add your own words of praise for the visual pleasure and intricate skills provided in the Euro 2012 final by what must be one of the greatest-ever football teams. Poor Italy did not stand a chance, ten men or no ten men. Someone suggested it would have helped Italy to have the Pope on their bench but Pope Benedict is German!
Wimbledon shockers Venus Williams out in the first round; Rafael Nadal beaten by the 100th ranked player in the second round; World # 1, Maria Sharapova sent packing in the first week. Cynics might suggest an investigation into match fixing (I am just joking!), but those unexpected defeats certainly robbed the Championships of much glamour. Prince Charles sat in the Royal Box for the first time since 1970 which does not make him the world’s biggest tennis fan and it is alleged that he promised to be back within the next 40 years!
What a great championships Congrats to the athletes selected to wear our national colours at London Olympics from July 27. I am sure they carry the best wishes and hopes of all in our sport-loving country and all I ask is that they do their best and give it everything they have. Yes, medals would be nice and are important but medals are not the be all and end all as many make them out to be. T&T is a dot in the ocean compared with many first world countries with loads of money and the best of facilities and I am always amazed and proud at what we actually achieve with the relatively few resources we have. I will be watching the Olympics in Canada and can’t wait to see our athletes on the TV screen. Good luck ladies and guys!
Hoop of Life saga (a) Shaquille O’Neal or not? (b) Hoop of Life or not? (c) Worth the cost or not? (d) Programme properly thought through or not? (e) Objectives realistic or not? (f) Should Shaq have raised the PM to the heavens as he did or not?
Those are the major questions put to me so (g) should I give an opinion or not? Here are my short answers.
(a) Yes. I believe in big names. Horses for courses and a top NBA star in underprivileged areas is an excellent match.
(b) Yes, but I have always tried to ensure that with incentive schemes, everyone ends up a winner in some meaningful way.
Otherwise, several participants will conclude they cannot win and give up before the project starts, soon reverting to negative behaviour.
I have lived through that scenario enough times in the private sector where so-called sales incentive projects backfire because the criteria are perceived as unfair and not applicable to all.
(c) I cannot answer if I do not know the cost but I am not sure how many “buy” that all funds were privately donated.
Politicians seem to enjoy inviting criticism where dollars are concerned which only leads to suspicions that all is not okay in the areas of accountability and transparency.
(d) My bet is “no” and if I am correct, then that is the weakest link in the exercise. If you fail to plan, then plan to fail. Why not start with one community on a “test the water” basis and then build on the positive factors?
(e) Objectives should be measurable within a given timeframe and only a management moron would not know in advance what is expected/hoped/intended to happen by design rather than by accident.
“Structure follows strategy” so if you don’t have a plan, how do you know what resources are required?
(f) No, but Americans are generally not big on protocol and as long as Shaq did not try to slam dunk our PM, I guess we can survive the incident and not declare war on USA.
He should not have done it! On a TV talk show I think I heard a Minister say that major beneficiaries of the Hoops project were single mothers “who we have to help.” Of course we should help them but they should also help themselves by saying “no” to boys and men to protect their mostly-dismal futures. To a great extent, single mothers, especially teenagers, are the ultimate problem which is why I have twice publicly suggested that Government introduce a programme rewarding in a meaningful way, young girls who do not have a baby or an abortion before they are 21. Otherwise, the crime cycle will never end, Shaq or no Shaq. Many young men these days have been sexually active from 11, 12 and 13 years old and are much to blame, but it takes two to tango to bring a baby into the world. If Shaq could persuade young girls that the ongoing hardships of being a single mother are generally not worth it, we would reduce crime automatically.
The motto for Hoops of Life should be “Basketball YES, Teenage sex NO”. Please tell me if I am off-base.
Well done, N&M It is sad to report that one week ago, 40 young men from Never Dirty/Morvant, graduated from a “Boys to Men” programme funded by Neal and Massy Foundation. It was a very moving function to which the parents of the graduates were invited. Would you believe that not one father was present and only one mother? Also last weekend there was an Open House afternoon for parents to visit the 200 boys at Youth Training Centre in Arouca. The number of fathers present was negligible. If I were to relate the countless heart-breaking “father stories” I have heard at YTC in the past four years, you would cry for a week. So while I give full credit and support to the authorities for using Shaq and sport as vehicles to change crime, my own experience dealing with youth suggests that even more important is the recent effort of Brigadier John Sandy to bring fathers back into the lives of their sons and daughters. Can we not find the budget to combine both initiatives on an ongoing basis and ensure that all Ministers and MPs engage themselves in relevant activities as part of their performance appraisals?
What’s in a name? Actually quite a lot if you happen to have the right name at the right time as happened recently when I was in the ultra-modern Roopnarine Hardware Complex in Chaguanas and met one of the Roopnarine family members. We chatted on several topics, including the impressive size, professional layout and enormous number of products on display, and when it came to sport, the gentleman mentioned that he played and enjoyed table tennis, which prompted me to add that a teenager, also named Roopnarine was doing very well in the sport. I filled him in on Arun Roopnarine’s recent track record and explained that he was scheduled to travel to Guatemala, El Salvador and Dominican Republic in August for important tournaments. My friend then asked if he could make a small contribution towards Arun’s travel expenses on behalf of the employees of Roopnarine Hardware Ltd which I accepted gratefully and promised to bring Arun to meet the staff after the overseas tournaments which visit I will arrange with pleasure.
Life is full of pleasant surprises and I thank you Sir, for your generous gesture.
One more factor in the equation With so many things going on in our crazy world, this article is a hodge-podge of sport, politics, sexuality, parenting and crime. Let me end by adding another critical factor to the crime equation—education. Three days ago Neal and Massy Foundation completed a 2012 promise to Youth Training Centre to air-condition the seven classrooms and two teachers’ rooms, which previously had been sweat boxes for volunteer teachers and the boys, and were not at all conducive to learning. I personally have sweated pounds in those classrooms feeding the guys and making my small contribution to bring about positive changes in their behaviour. In a country where no project however small seems to cost less than millions of dollars, N&M Foundation paid the massive sum of $54,300 for the above-mentioned work which I guarantee is 100 per cent transparent because I paid the contractor/YTC myself. That insignificant cost for the lifelong benefit of helping over 200 deviant teenagers to “come back to school” is a guarantee of money well spent.
When you think of it, we don’t always have to go “foreign.” Have a nice week and God bless you and yours.
