Where has our patriotism gone?

Either no one read the column, or none of you had a vestige of patriotism left to express.

The 17th Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Track and Field Championships were held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th July.

Five hundred and twenty three young athletes, plus their coaches, trainers and supporters came to our country from as far as Bermuda and Mexico.

The boys and girls came to compete in two age groups— Under- 17 and Under-20. The local National Amateur Athletic Association “picked up” the hosting of these Championships when the British Virgin Islands withdrew a few months ago.

That a local, voluntary association could step forward, at late notice, and conduct what appeared to be a flawless international track and field meet is highly commendable.

However, I saw no accolades for the NAAA for their success. It is ironic that if there is any dispute among officials of any sports association, that dispute stays in the headlines for weeks. However when an association organises a programme that is praised by all the visiting participants, one is hard put to find a word of praise in the media.

But I do credit the media for their actual coverage of the whole programme. It was so refreshing to see large photos of our young athletes in action on the front and back pages of the dailies.

There was also extensive coverage on radio and television news with NCC-TV doing an excellent job of live coverage. I also appreciated the inputs of Ato Boldon, whose interest was genuine, and whose comments were interesting and instructive. How many of you knew the important features of running the second leg in the 4x400 Relay?

Before I go further, let me remind you because we in TT remain totally unconscious about this— of the boost to our tourism sector and to the regional travel industry.

Five hundred and twenty three young athletes, plus their coaches, trainers, media and supporters, spent five days in our hotels.

How often does the business sector, or even the government, attract this amount of customers to our country? All of these people flew in and out of Piarco via BWIA, LIAT, or Caribbean Star. On leaving, they paid about $60,000 in Departure Tax.

I arrived at the stadium shortly before the start on Sunday. Athletes were warming up, and officials were preparing and there was a lot of preparation required for the events.

There were very few spectators, most appeared to be young supporters from local track clubs. There were scattered supporters of Barbados, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and other participating countries.

By the time the final relays were being run, the covered stand was almost full but many of these “supporters” were young athletes who had competed earlier. The afternoon got off to a good start for us with Gold Medals in the Boys 800 metres— Under-17 and Under-20. The programme ended with four Silver medals for TT in the 4x400 Relays (Girls Under-17, Under-20, Boys Under-17, Under-20), with Jamaica securing gold in all four races!

Jamaica topped the medal standings, followed by Mexico and TT. However Cuba was surprisingly absent, due to funding problems.

This is a pity, because Cuba is a leading Caribbean participant, in all sports except cricket. Also missing were Venezuela and Colombia. Colombia is now hosting the Senior CAC Games (which began last Sunday) in Cartagena, where many of Cuba’s Under-20s were to compete at senior level.

The performances in many of the events were described by Ato Boldon as “world class,” and 19 regional age-group records were set.

Really, the only thing missing on that entertaining and exciting afternoon was you, all of you. For those of you who have recently experienced the thrill of a flowing football movement, a goal or a brilliant save, let me tell you that cheering a young athlete— boy or girl— down the home stretch, each stride bringing them closer to victory, until, at the last second, and carried by your cheering, they breast the tape, bringing gold to T&T, gives you the same “rush”.

But you have to be there to experience it.

So if this “patriotism thing” that you found in Germany (whether you were there or not) is to continue, you have to nurture it. You cannot put it away until November 2009 and then decide to wave your flag again.

And of course, I do not expect you to wave your flag “just so.” You need, as a citizen, as a patriot, something to support, something to be proud of, something for which to wave your flag.

And you know there is nothing in the behaviour of our government, or our politics, in which you can feel pride.

There is nothing that our business community has done as yet which can make you feel proud to be a Trini. So, if you feel you are a patriot, I ask you, once again, get out and support sport, all sports, any sport, at local or international level.

And finally, to our business community: I know that you have expressed your concerns over the lack of discipline and commitment among young people.

I read your releases, and I see your advertisements. You call upon “government” to take some yet unspecified action. You want to see a return of respect for elders, respect for justice, decency and fair play among the nation’s youth.

And yet the several volunteer NGOs which conduct successful development programmes for young people, in sport and culture, simply do not have your acknowledgement, far less your support.

Our young athletes, whether in football, cricket, track and field, or cycling are really disciplined young people. They train long and hard, usually under volunteer coaches and organisers.

They know triumph and they know heartbreak. Most of them “travel” to school and to training in all the hustle of maxis. Long after other children are at home and have done their homework, the nation’s young athletes are packing up their training, now getting ready to go home. Their sacrifices are tremendous, but they have goals, real goals, and they deserve our appreciation and our understanding of their sacrifices.

I would like to see more of our business organisations make a commitment to sport. I am not asking here that they just hand out money although that is needed, and that is welcome.

More than that however, is the need for corporate TT and indeed the government, to understand more about the amount of highly effective work being done by the organisations and volunteers who create our Soca Warriors and our Gold Medal winners.

It’s very tempting, and easy and rewarding to become a sponsor when we qualify or win a medal. But the truth is it is so much more rewarding to be part of the foundation and the building process which eventually creates the champions.

Corporate TT can do so much more than continually whine to Government about falling standards. They can react with all those young people whose standards are rising.

If business organisations would seek out the sporting organisations, and learn what is happening at “ground level”, I know that they will support the programmes they currently know nothing about.

Then having given support at ground level where it all begins they can justly hang their logos on our athletes following Beijing 2008 and South Africa 2010.