Time to stop and to think

Tony Becca, Contributor

For some 81 years now, little Jamaica has been doing great things in sport, so great in fact that bigger countries, richer countries, have marvelled at the performance.

Since 1930 and the coming of George Headley, Jamaica has produced world champions and world record holders in cricket like Alfred Valentine, Gerry Alexander, Lawrence Rowe, Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, and Chris Gayle.

In track and field, Jamaica has also done well with the likes of Arthur Wint, Herb McKenley, George Rhoden, and Les Laing, Merlene Ottey, Veronica Campbell- Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, and Melaine Walker, as they have done in boxing with champions like Mike McCallum and Trevor Berbick; in football with stars like Lindy Delapenha and Theodore Whitmore and the World Cup team of 1998; and in netball where they have produced champion women like Patricia McDonald and Connie Francis, while becoming one of the best teams in the world.

And just recently, another Jamaican, Usain Bolt, World and Olympic 100 and 200 metres champion, world record holder in both events, arguably the greatest sprinter of all time and the greatest Jamaican sportsman of all time, was acclaimed the most marketable sportsman in the world.

The ranking was done by Sportspro, the field included LeBron James of basketball fame, as well as footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and it marked the first time that a Jamaican was so honoured.

Who would believe, 50, 40, or even 30 years ago, that Jamaica, little Jamaica, would produce the quality sportsmen and sportswomen, the number of sportsmen and sportswomen that would make it the envy of the world, a world which includes such heavyweights as the United States of America, Russia, Britain, and Canada etcetera, etcetera.

The world will never forget the Olympic Games of 2008 when, in a show of strength in the women's 100 metres, Jamaica finished a remarkable first, second, and second, and that's without the winner of the women's 200 metres in the race.

Tread carefully

Jamaicans, on the record of those Jamaicans performing for Jamaica and not on the record of those performing elsewhere, should be proud, especially of a country so small and lacking in so many things, and especially in wealth.

As proud as they may be, however, in looking ahead, in attempting to achieve more and greater glory, they should tread carefully.

Sport costs money, success in elite sport costs plenty money, Jamaica do not have money, and the little they have they should spend wisely.

They should spend it in the interest of the majority of the people. They spend it for the people's welfare, for health, food, shelter, security, and education with some going to recreational sport.

Success in sport, in elite sport, is good. It is good for the individual, it is good for the psyche of the people, and it is good for the nation.

The welfare of the people, however, the health, food, shelter, security, and education come first, and it is the obligation of any responsible government to see that those things come first.

The government, if it is fortunate to have money to spare, should assist wherever and whenever possible, but basically elite sport should fund itself through things like gate receipts, television rights, and private sector sponsorship.

In other words, unlike what the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) seem to think, elite sport must fund itself, as they do in most other countries.

Just recently, after she was reprimanded for what he termed the lack of support for the young Reggae Boyz, the Minister of Sports, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, had to remind the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, Horace Burrell, that she is not the Minister of Football.

It is a pity that the minister did not remind Burrell that Jamaica play a number of sports apart from football, including cricket, track and field, boxing, netball, hockey, tennis, table tennis, golf, squash, badminton, volleyball, swimming, etcetera, etcetera, that a number of them are as important to the people of Jamaica as football, and that some of them have been more successful than football.

Unreasonable

It seems unreasonable for football to compete in everything, to be in everything, to want to go everywhere, and to be asking the government for money almost every day to fund their participation in everything.

The JFF obviously believes that Jamaica is as rich as the USA, England, or Brazil, either that or they believe that football is the only sport played by Jamaicans.

The attitude of the JFF was there for all to see just recently.

The Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association and the JFF had a meeting some weeks ago at which, so it was reported, they decided that if a schoolboy is called up for national duty and do not show up he will barred from representing the school in that year.

I hope to God that is not true, that somehow I got it wrong.

First off, a school is a school, a boy is a boy, and any letter inviting him to join the national squad should be sent to his parents and to the school.

On top of that, nobody has the right to force anyone to do anything, and even if the school agrees with it, to say that a schoolboy cannot represent his school because he does not choose to represent Jamaica is going too far, way too far.

Although the boy may be good enough to play football for his school he may not wish to become a footballer. He may only want to represent his school, to play with his friends, for his friends, and that is his right, especially in a country like Jamaica.