http://www.trackalerts.com/?p=8170
Track and Field is one of the leading sports in Trinidad and Tobago. In the history of the Olympics Games, athletics are responsible for 9 of the 13 medals won by national athletes. Leading the way is Hasely Crawford who won gold in the 100m at the 1976 Games in Montreal, Canada and Ato Boldon who bagged four medals in 1996 (Atlanta, USA) and 2000 (Sydney, Australia) games. Athletes like: Edwin Roberts, Wendel Mottley, Richard Thompson, Cleopatra Borel-Brown, Candace Scott, Renny Quow, Josanne Lucas and Jehue Gordon have now become household names.
At the junior level Ato Boldon won double sprint gold at the 1992 World Junior Championships to Rhonda Watkins and Renny Quow who both struck gold for the red, white and black the 2006 edition of the Games. Darryl Brown completed the Youth and Junior double when he first won the World Youth 100m crown in 1999 in Hungary then the 2002 Junior sprint gold in Jamaica where Marc Burns was runner up. Medals were also won by Kelly Ann Baptiste (bronze, 100m, 2003 World Youth Champs), Jamil James (bronze, 200m at the 2004 World Juniors), Keston Bledman (bronze 100m, 2005 Youths), the national medley relay team (silver, 2005 World Youths) and Janeil Bellille (silver, 400m Hurdles, 2008 World Juniors). In the last three years, there has been an improvement in the performance of the Carifta teams which culminated with a record haul of 40 at this year’s games in the Cayman Islands .
Much credit must be given to the athletes and their coaches for the hard work put in preparing for competition. Acknowledgement must be made to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs who have been pumping large amounts of funding into the sport.
The Sports Ministry, through the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago must be commended for the increase in funding into sports, in particular the Elite Athletes Funding which has gone a long way in helping our top athletes to train and compete at the highest level.
Several sports have already benefited from the Ministry’s assistance program. These also include: boxing, cricket, cycling, football, netball, and swimming among others.
Some of these sports organizations have been doing an excellent job of informing the citizens on the progress and performances of their athletes thus justifying the amount of monies that have been invested.
The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCB) has been marketing their cricketers especially following the success of the national cricket team at the Champions League in India under the captaincy of Darren Ganga. The team came in second place. Following that success, names like Darren Bravo, Ganga and others are constantly highlighted in advertisement on TV programs.
For some time now, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) has taken the marketing and advertising initiative of the sport to higher level major corporate sponsors. There is a trust factor here benefiting both sides.
The Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ASATT) have been constantly providing updates on the performances of national swimmers. They provide meets, results, pictures, biographies, and interviews to the media, “Joe and Josephine Public.”
The PRO of ASATT Jason Wickham should be commended for providing access. There is nothing that happens with swimming that their executive are not aware of or considers too sacred to divulge.
When one compares the track and field program, given all the recent success, I wonder why that sport has not been able to attract and command the respect and support of the media and corporate Trinidad .
At the 2008 Olympics Games, track and field won this country’s only medals. Richard Thompson took silver in the men’s 100m and the national sprint relay team was second in the 4 x 100m relay finals.
Last year, at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin , Germany , our athletes produced Trinidad &Tobago’s best ever performance at an international meet. They returned home with three medals, one silver (the men’s 4 x 100m relay) and two bronzes (Renny Quow in the men’s 400m flat, and Josanne Lucas in the women’s 400 m hurdles).
The internationally recognized Penn Relays took place in Philadelphia , USA the last week of April 2010. I went to the NAAA’s website looking for information on the composition of our national teams. Much to my surprise, I saw more articles on the Bahamians and Jamaican contingent. I was grateful for the information, but I saw nothing of Trinidad and Tobago .
I attended the Penn Relays with: Ed Roberts, Ken Bernard, Winston Short, Len Yearwood, Larry Betaudier, Al King, Irving Joseph, Benedict Cayene and other nationals. We did not see Kelly Ann Baptiste, Darryl Brown, nor Marc Burns compete. We were wondering what were the reasons for their absence. I am left to wonder why the NAAA has not issued a statement up to this date about of the team.
I am also concerned about what the President(Ephraime Serrette and the PRO(Peter Samuel) of the NAAA are doing to promote the sport in Trinidad and Tobago .On another front, I did not see Josanne and Renny on television after their successful world championships performance. I knew when the national cricket team returned from the competition in India, the cricketers were all over the media. I read where NAAA president Ephraim Serette said that ”other sports seem to be preferred ahead of track and field.” I responded to this statement. Since then, I have seen very little improvement in the promotion of track and field.
The Secondary School Track and Field Championships is another issue of concern. National Corporations seem to be distancing themselves from the meet. Guardian Holdings Limited was the last left standing and has parted ways with the meet.
Now, tell me, “What is wrong?” The national secondary school track and field championships organizers have failed to attract spectators and sponsors. This meet has been the breeding ground for our current crop of athletic stars and no doubt our future champions.
The NAAA’s way of conducting their business seems to be operating with apparently little regard for the influential nature of the media on the populous. They must know by now that their strategy for marketing the sport of track and field is wanting. They must be concerned that our sister isles in the Caribbean and the world, at large, the sports have taken off like a blaze of fire – thanks mainly to the achievement of the sprint phenomenon Usain Bolt of Jamaica .
Unless there is some drastic shift of focus or unless somebody overturns the apple cart and say, “enough is enough,” then track and field will remain in the doldrums of these modern times. The murky canal that it is in Trinidad Tobago will flourish! I think the laissez-faire attitude has been active too long.
There is need for effective change in leadership responsibility and accountability! How can the sport company and the Adidas contributions
