Sports Camps and more

This year’s usual July/ August school vacation can only be deemed an exceptional one, relative to sports.

In an unprecedented way, there is no shortage of available sporting activities for the nation’s students to be gainfully occupied, as they prepare for the next academic year.

As such, a plethora of camps among most of the sporting disciplines practised here in St Vincent and the Grenadines, have been convened.

A spot check shows that Netball, Cycling, Karate, Table Tennis, Squash, Tennis, Rugby, Basketball, Swimming, Sailing, Volleyball and Track and Field, are all engaging students at this time.

The injection of funds from the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee, in no small measure added that impetus of support to be able to have the camps without having to worry.

With that assistance in effect, about 800 students have positively been affected by their mere signing up and attending these sports camps, with Track and Field, again carrying the bulk of the numbers.

The highlights for this column have been the efforts of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association (SVGNA), and the Hairouna Karate Federation (HKF), to build a more solid base for their talent pools.

But whilst this column commends the above-mentioned organisations, the same cannot be said of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association Inc., as they have remained mute and invisible in this regard.

It is one of the disciplines that is malnourished of emerging players, yet the men who are responsible for the progress of the sport remain disinterested and lethargic to say the least.

For all intents and purposes, the main objectives of these camps may be to teach the participants the fundamentals of the respective sports.

But incidentals come along the way as attendees also get equipped and are reinforced with valuable life skills and disciplines relevant to their daily undertakings.

Hence, these camps are filling the void left by the long break in formal school operations.

Therefore, kudos to the various national sporting associations that have come on board in 2024 and have seen if fitting to host camps.

Above all though, getting more of our young people to occupy their time whilst learning a skill not only augurs well for the sport itself, but the betterment of the country’ s social cohesion.

Ultimately, the net result is that entrants would gravitate to their newly acquired skill set and hopefully, stay long enough to grow that discipline they have chosen.

The reality is that some of the attendees at these camps would have done so because of friends, or they were enrolled by their parents as a means of deterring them from otherwise nefarious or time-wasting activities.

Be that the case, the onus now is on all the disciplines that exposed their cohorts to their sport, to work assiduously to have them become members.

The technical personnel of the national sporting associations must redouble their efforts and use persuasive techniques when embarking on recruitment.

It is no gainsaying that getting new people into sports here in St Vincent and the Grenadines is not a piece of cake, as there are multiple interests that can steer them away from getting involved.

The challenge is even harder to keep them in the sport, after they have gotten their appetite whetted.

There comes the headache, especially as it pertains to females whose participation in sports is dwindling at an alarming rate.

But as the camps evaluate their 2024 editions, taking a look back at the highs, the lows, as well as the indifferences, and start to plan for 2025, they must be mindful of their mandate- development is paramount.

We have heard the hue and cry time after time, that St Vincent and the Grenadines is not where we ought to be in sports, hence, any initiative to give us that lift, that fillip, is welcomed with open arms.

As we look ahead, hopefully, the seeds have been sown, it is left for the coaches and others to keep irrigating the sporting talents that emanated from the various camps over the last six weeks.