Do you agree giving our players money for medals?

[Sam]

Do you agree giving our players money for medals? wether football, track, etc, any sports.

So when we cant give them money again because we broke, what will happen?


$800,000, house for Jehue
BY CLAYTON CLARKE and Miranda La Rose
Friday, August 30 2013

WORLD champion 400-metre hurdler Jehue Gordon will be rewarded with the country’s second highest honour, the Chaconia Gold, for his gold medal run at the 14th IAAF World Championships of Athletics in Moscow, Russia, on August 15.

The 21-year-old will also receive $800,000, a house, free travel aboard Caribbean Airlines, an annual bursary from the University of the West Indies (UWI), where he is a student, and a track to be constructed at the St Augustine campus in his honour.

Sport Minister Anil Roberts called Gordon, who is in London, England, on his cellphone to deliver the good news to the star athlete, in the presence of reporters at Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain yesterday.

Gordon expressed his thanks to the minister and the Cabinet and added that he cannot wait to return home. He has been in England since his historic run in Moscow, where he is preparing for his next race in the Brussels Diamond League Leg on September 6 before returning home on September 8.

Roberts told reporters Cabinet approved the rewards earlier yesterday on his recommendation. “The house will be a middle-sized one to be approved by the Ministry of Housing, Land and Marine Affairs Dr Roodal Moonilal while the UWI bursary is to cover housing, books, meals and transportation during his tenure at the university,” the minister said.

Gordon is entering his final year and is pursuing a degree in Sports Management. Roberts also announced that Gordon’s coach, Dr Ian Hypolite, will also collect $200,000 and will be recommended for the Chaconia Silver medal at next year’s Independence Day award.

“The recommendation for Dr Hypolite came in too late for this year’s award ceremony,” Roberts said.

He also said the track to be constructed at UWI, St Augustine will be done by the Sports Company.

“I spoke with Professor (Clement) Sankar today (yesterday) and he advised based on a recommendation by the Ministry and with discussion with the Cabinet on the matter,” he added.

A special ceremony is to be arranged to present Gordon with his Chaconia Gold medal as his overseas engagement also means he will miss tomorrow’s Independence Day National Awards ceremony, being held for the first time, at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts in San Fernando.

Gordon’s mother, Marcella Woods yesterday thanked God first and foremost, and the Government for the rewards it has announced for him for having achieved TT’s second gold medal at a World Championship.

However, Woods has one regret. “I am sorry he would not be here for Independence,” she said to share the joy of others who would be receiving national honours on the occasion of the country’s 51st Independence anniversary. It was Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar who announced the Chaconia Gold national award for Gordon at the post-Cabinet briefing, Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair yesterday.

A surprised Woods said she did not know about the honours for her son it until Newsday told her and kept repeating. “ I am happy. I am happy for Jehue. I have to thank God and Government for everything.”

About developing and naming a track after Gordon at the UWI campus, Woods said, “That would be lovely.” She is looking forward to his return home.

Woods maintained that Gordon is a “messenger for Trinidad and Tobago. He has shown what we can do here.”

Gordon visited colleges in Mississippi and other places in the United States, she said, to decide what to do. “He came back and he said, ‘Mommy, I am not going anywhere you know. I will stay right here in Trinidad to study and to train.”

Declaring a firm faith in God, she said, “I feel so happy and thank God for everything that has happened in Trinidad and Tobago for my son.”

[rotatopoti3]

I real happy for d fella but ah think we really going down ah slippery slope here....

I starting tuh think about climbing Mt.Everest....

Ah wonder what d gov't would give meh if I'm successful ...??

[D.H.W]

TnT never broke. Not like we have much athletes getting medals anyway.

[Deeks]

I real happy for d fella but ah think we really going down ah slippery slope here....

I starting tuh think about climbing Mt.Everest....

Ah wonder what d gov't would give meh if I'm successful ...??

You would not even reach the base, so forget about it!

[Deeks]

TnT never broke. Not like we have much athletes getting medals anyway.

When we reach on par with JA(which is wishful thinking) then we will have cause to worry. But right now we need to start with the youths. That is as equally important. Allyuh remember this years Carifta game when we could not even submit one female in a four participants race.

[lefty]

STEUPS is stiff borrowin goingon right now.........dont be fooled

[rotatopoti3]

You would not even reach the base, so forget about it!

Deeks yuh wicked...with them sherpas around....ah could at least SEE base! from afar

[Flex]

Athletes don’t run for HDC houses says Anil
T&T Guardian.

Sports Minister Anil Roberts has condemned critics staunchly opposed to the reward system being rolled out by the People’s Partnership Government for this country’s young and achieving athletes. News that cabinet had approved multi-million-dollars recommendations from the sports ministry for Jehue Gordon’s victory at last month IAAF World Championships in Moscow has been an issue of contention for many in society.

Gordon’s rewards include:

• the Chaconia Medal (Gold)
• $800,000
• a mid-sized HDC house
• an annual bursary at the University of the West Indies that will cover accommodation, meals and transport
• free airline tickets on Caribbean Airlines
• after consultation with Professor Clement Sankat, name the pending track facility at UWI the Jehue Gordon Track Facility.

Roberts was speaking at a reception in Gordon’s honour held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad on Dock Road in Port-of-Spain on Sunday. He has expressed concern over what he considered to be the thin-skinned approach to support by many in society for this country’s burgeoning athletes and is urging citizens not to give up on young talent.

“Yuh give him too much! That go spoil him! First and foremost athletes like this are not motivated by intrinsic things. They don’t run for HDC house and money and so on (otherwise) they will not be this good. They will not be able to take the torture (of training). They do not do it just for medals or rewards. They do it because they want to challenge themselves to be the best that they can be. They (are) not focused on money and house and travelling first class. These are things that we do because we appreciate them,” he said.

Roberts added: “And for those of you who say that is too much for them, let me tell you that you do not understand that of which you speak. The fact that Jehue Gordon running in a semi-final and a final, with over 75 million watching in the semi-final and over 180 million people watching T&T for 47.69 seconds during the race, two minutes before the race and five minutes after the race, if you were to pay for that, you would have to spend at least US$15 million for that advertising time alone. When we reward our athletes is not a payment. It is recognition that we love and respect what you do.”

He moved to clear the air on how the system works. Roberts said first of all it was not done willy-nilly, but with strict guidelines.  Champion Olympics athletes were placed at the higher end of the scale and followed by achievers at the World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Caribbean and Central American Games, Pan American Games coming down the line. Similarly, victors of individual sports copping gold, silver and bronze were categorised.

“When you understand what Jehue Gordon has done and will continue to do because he is very young—and there will be ups and there will be downs—we hope that for the next 16 years that he’s stay up and will run 47.69 (seconds), 47.42, in Rio (Brazil) go 46.90, (and) will break the world record. We hope that it is so! But if it is not so, we will still be there supporting 100 per cent,” Roberts said.

[grimm01]

Why not reward the athletes for their achievements? For the most part these men and women sacrificing their bodies and lives to pursue their dreams. Most making less as an athlete than they would at a regular 9-5, and very few will ever come close to the type of endorsement $$$ that Bolt getting.

Now you can argue that they have made a personal decision and should bear the costs and consequences of their decisions, however when they medal, they ultimately bring attention and glory to the country. Nobody running in the Olympics/World Championships/Pan Am Games  as an independent or saluting an empty flagpole at the medal ceremony.

I think we should provide a reward to our sports men and women who do us proud and bring a positive spotlight to the country. I also think we should have a national policy on how much to give and layout the value of medals and Games - which the minister spoke about in article Flex posted.

My personal opinion is the reward for a medal should be something tangible that the athletes can use to help them cover expenses, continue training or prepare them for life after the sport e.g. money can be used for bills, training costs or retirement, housing, scholarships. I think the "big" rewards such as national medals, naming of streets/buildings/parks should be reserved as recognition of:

• A career dedicated to a discipline or sport
• A track record of achievement or success
• Internationally recognized record breaking feats e.g. world records, first Trini to win Wimbeldon, winning World Cup

According to this article, lots of countries (even the US) pays their athletes for medals; though this is focused on the Olympics.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/07/31/london-olympics-unpaid-athletes-fight-for-rich-medal-bonuses/

[fishs]

Politicians enriching themselves through corruption regardless of whether the country have money or not.

 These young people who achieve at the highest level deserve all the recognition we could afford.

I remember how Hasely was made to suffer on a ministry salary for years, losing his house in La Horquette and having to beg for somewhere to live until Basdeo Panday realise how mich mileage he could get out of him and give him a house in Federation park.

least now he is relatively comfortable.