SVGFF General Secretary calls for cultural changes

General Secretary of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) Ian Hypolite is calling for cultural changes ahead of the commencement of this year’s Inter Secondary Schools Football Tournament.{{more}}

One of Hypolite’s proposals is to have the matches played on Sundays from 2 pm, preferably at the Victoria Park.

He sees this as an opportunity for the young footballers to get some recognition.

Hypolite told SEARCHLIGHT: “The SVGFF has signed articles of memorandum with St. Vincent and the Grenadines Broadcasting Corporation to bring a live televised game of the week from Victoria Park at 4 pm on Sundays.”

“We are unable to buck the trend and allow school sports on weekends. As a society we need continual updating, framing, deconstructing and reconstructing of values and norms through a cultural metamorphosis,” Hypolite proffered.

“My vision is for there to be a game of the week for the senior competition groupings played at Victoria Park every Sunday as a prelude to this televised game which will eventually lead to the televising of the Inter Secondary School Senior Finals on a Sunday at 2 pm from Victoria Park,” Hypolite said.

Hypolite said he is not impressed with the standard of support given to youth Football here.

“As General Secretary of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, I am able to compare the level of support to Inter Secondary School Football through my travels to the different islands in our hemisphere, and comparatively speaking, we are definitely lacking community support for our student athletes,” Hypolite observed.

“Our parental support is also at a low ebb. Furthermore, the overall involvement from media, community, and corporate sector is woefully deficient,” the GS opined.

“It is difficult to create change, for we are all comfortable with what we are accustomed to. However for us to take the game of the people to the next level we have to invest in the youth, both on and off the field,” Hypolite contended.

“I am making a call to all stakeholders involved with Inter Secondary School Football to accept this challenge; to the fence sitters the time has come as if there is no struggle, there is no progress; and there is no progress without struggle, power concedes nothing without demand,” Hypolite reasoned philosophically.

The secondary schools competition was set to begin tomorrow November 3, but has had to be reset owing to the disruptions in the schools’ programme after the passage of Hurricane Tomas last weekend.

Sixteen schools are registered in the Under-16 Division and twenty -two in the Under-21 category.

The Campden Park Secondary is the reigning Under-16 champions, and the Bequia Seventh Day Adventist, the returning Under-21 winners.(RT)