Sando, who sponsoring foreign coaches? Govt ? Business community?
Every year you and others ask this SAME question, my point is this is what has to be done to change direction from failure to potential success. Someone or some group has to sponsor them, I do not know who will do it, but it has to be done, if not then results will not change much, you will keep getting one or two bronze medals every Olympics and World Championships.
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That's right. Look at a country like Jamaica. The government does not have a lot of dollars to allocate to the JAAA. The JAAA knew what they were getting wasn't enough. So they reached out to the private sector in Jamaica and established agreements with companies like Grace. This was integral to accessing resources to grow track in Jamaica. Eventually PUMA came calling. And so the story goes.
Another thing to think about is taking care of the athletes. The top two racing clubs in Jamaica HAVE MONEY. Even if you're an average athlete and you run with any of them, you will not have to choose between looking for work or going to train. Those two clubs take care of their athletes. So the athletes dont need to rely on govt funding. In TT the athletes have to rely on govt funding, because the track clubs are essentially broke. So it's govt funding or your out on your own.
For track to grow in TT, the various actors need to be less dependant upon govt funding. The NAAA needs to forge long lasting partnerships with the private sector. The clubs need to identify good athletes from a young age and see them as an investment. That means taking care of them. Even a free meal is a step in the right direction.
