What can you do to help sport in SVG?

Tue, Nov 29, 2010

Editor: Soccer is now midway through its season. Some teams seem to be better organized now, after playing their first five games.{{more}}

Had they played several serious and purposeful practice matches before the start of the tournament, they would have realized then what they realize now. Having a coach or someone knowledgeable of the process of game development would have helped.

Spectators are excited with what they are seeing; others are driven by ideas of how soccer should be organized, rather than doing what is necessary to develop the players and the game. People will kick ball until they cannot kick anymore, making up rules as they go along, with or without proper administrators and constitutions.

There are those who want to do something in their community, at the same time promoting themselves; others will help to organize competitions to occupy those who want to play; already community organizations have started making their own rules for their village competitions and invitational tournaments for those at a certain age, all designed to keep certain players and teams from playing.

There are other things happening that those in authority will not and cannot do anything about, because they fear losing their popularity. Many see discrimination creeping into the sport, before discipline and development; then the player, whether new or learner, will not be able to play with and against better players. That’s the way those administrators develop the players and the game and at other times the criticize others for not getting better opponents to play the national team. Sports needs a direction of development, so, do you think your sport will develop with those who are presently in authority? What can you do to help? One suggestion is to sit and decide what you want to achieve from the sport you play? Is it fun, get fit, meet friends or become good at it? Without a purpose or direction, you can be hurt badly, which will put you in expense, and also make you a very different person.

Now that Honorable Jack Warner has resigned, FIFA should not only sever his business relationship with them, but also investigate all CONCACAF countries since 2000. FIFA should assist in modifying and amending each constitution, make a film explaining the constitution and how FIFA technical and financial assistance is drawn down and disbursed, so that the public can be educated about the organization and how it functions; then persons and sponsors will assist without fear or favour. This is a pathway to development. Too many people jump into the sport because of its excitement, free travelling and popularity, only to learn their period as a performer or administrator has delayed development.

Presently FIFA and its members are also under scrutiny, but had FIFA and Concacaf administrators been working honestly, and monitoring how their technical and financial assistance had been disbursed, the bribing would have been reported or never happened. Now that “one coup” has been discovered, let’s hope FIFA sends monitors to stabilize the confederation, because the bad, the bitter, the ugly and the good are still at large.

Let’s not forget that members of FIFA have been coming to SVG very often during the last three years, and sharing very little information with the public and affiliates. Now that the entire past executive has left, so too has its secret information.

Development can’t be achieved the way they conducted FIFA’s business; we can only hope that the new executives can get some co-operation from their past to make progress.

Let’s have a happy Christmas and be careful not to get hurt trying hard to win.

Rollit