In recent weeks, amid the crime that threatens to cripple our society, the concerns about our education and health care systems, the repeated cries for an ease in the cost of living and other issues, some very heartening and positive gains have been made on the local sporting front.
Our sportspersons have recorded major achievements in various disciplines.
Barbados’ recent good news in sports include, but is not limited to:
- Barbados emerging victorious in the 2024 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Boys’ Under-14 Challenge Series Tier II final, defeating Bermuda 4-3 on penalties.
- Signia Globe Financial Barbados retaining their 2024 CWI Rising Stars Men’s Under-17 Two-Day title.
- National junior record holder for the women’s 100m, Kishawna Niles, securing bronze to become the third athlete from Barbados to win a medal at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships.
- Barbados’ sole participant in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France, Antwahn Boyce-Vaughan, finishing seventh with a new personal best time of 34.28 seconds in Heat 3 of the men’s S9 50m freestyle.
- A quartet of wrestlers – Justin Boyce, Matthew Arindell, Kanye Cumberbatch, and Rebecca Williams – winning four medals at a high-performance training camp in Toronto, Canada.
- Barbados securing a resounding victory at the 2024 CARIFTA Triathlon, Aquathlon, and Mixed Relay Championships.
- Barbados coming a close second to Guyana in the 2024 ENET Senior Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Championships.
- Barbadian squash sensation Karen Meakins securing her second World Masters title at the World Squash Federation (WSF) World Masters Championships final in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- A 10-member team, comprising five men and five women, representing Barbados at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.
Yet, these many successes are not making rounds on social media in the same manner as a video of a reckless manoeuvre by a PSV driver. This good news is not taking up a large portion of the call-in programmes in the same way party politics does. These positive stories are seemingly not occupying the same mental space that other negative elements in society do.
This is on us. The successes happen and they are reported by the media. However, we do not give them the same push and energy we do with other topics. We appear to prefer to continue the age-old lament that this is a lost generation of young people, propelling the narrative that the majority of them are gun-toting criminals. We prefer to highlight those who appear in handcuffs at White Park Road.
What stops us from publicising these positive achievements as much as we share photos and videos of the latest murder scene or other criminal activity? Why aren’t the names of the abovementioned sportspersons readily on our lips? Why aren’t we celebrating them in major ways?
Notwithstanding this lack of celebration, for the most part, young Barbadians continue to write their names on history’s page. They continue to make us proud even if as a country we are falling short by way of support and encouragment. They continue to make our country proud even as the sporting associations continually lament lack of funds, lack of facilities and in some cases, lack of respect.
While we continue to fail them by way of magnifying their accomplishments, they continue to persevere against all odds.
As we see and hear of these many exploits let us all purpose to accentuate the positive. Let us do what we can to ensure that we continue to record sporting successes. Let us do right by these sportspersons who leave these shores intent on ensuring that our flag flies high. Let us not falter in celebrating and uplifting these patriots. These amazing achievements deserve no less than pride of place.
