For this article, you shall refer to me as Yannaiah Quincey.
It’s Christmas time once again in T&T and that means we’re celebrating a lot of things. Sure there’s Jesus’ birthday, cheer and goodwill and all that good stuff. You know what’s the best of all of them? GIFTS!!
Yes! Without gifts, what’s the point of Christmas anyway??? T&T has had a rough 2021. With things like a pandemic, the government refusing to make sport a legitimate industry and added pressure from the local medium for athletes to perform despite being at sizable disadvantages from their peers, I think T&T sport deserves some gifts to cheer it up.
So for this article I’m making a wishlist for sport in Trinidad and Tobago. I believe I’ve been good this year and there’s no reason for the Claus man to check anything twice. So he should bear with me and roll with my demands. If not, we will fall out.
So without further ado, 🎶all I want for Christmas (for sport in Trinidad and Tobago) is…🎶
Sport To Reopen
Sports have been opening back up across the world amid the COVID-19 Pandemic since mid-2020. Other than holding the 2020 Caribbean Premier League season in a bubble, T&T hasn’t had a lot of activity when it comes to recreational and professional sport. Leagues have been shut down, competitions can’t be held and recreational sports like football and basketball cannot be played. Measures and mandates have allegedly been promised by national sporting bodies but the government hasn’t lifted restrictions out of fear of gatherings for the COVID virus to spread.
I get that it would be hard to police a green space as a safe zone so people could go play sports but I think at least for local professional leagues and competitions, it’s time for them to get back to their regularly scheduled programs so that athletes can develop, compete and earn a living.
Sponsorship For Our Athletes
For too long, Trinidad and Tobago athletes have been competing across some of the biggest stages in sport. International tournaments and championships, playing for clubs in their respective sports, and producing great results and winning medals and trophies. However, sometimes they are unable to perform at their best due to financial constraints. Sure they probably get some prize money, but it’s not nearly enough to be competitive on a regular basis. They don’t have the money to utilize the best equipment, the best coaching, the best professionals when it comes to performance enhancement and injury care and prevention.
Look at Nicholas Paul above us. Here’s his list of achievements:
- Finished 5th at the inaugural UCI Track Champions League.
- Silver medalist at the UCI Track Cycling Championships.
- Gold medalist at the UCI Track Cycling Championships in Cali.
- World Record holder for fastest flying 200m time
- AN OLYMPIAN!
And you’re telling me the only sponsorship he regularly has on his cycling suit is his country? A country that, besides his family, friends and those who actively watches his events, doesn’t support him financially?
Paul and most of our non-team sport athletes already possess the talent to compete against the best in world. However, other athletes have a financial advantage that gives them the edge over us. If we could get some sponsorship for our athletes, it will go a long way.
Associations To Market Their Sport Better
Mostly, we do not really know what’s happening with some sports in Trinidad and Tobago because of poor marketing. In an age where social media is the quickest way to get information around, there are some sporting bodies that do not utilize it to its fullest potential. One instance is hockey, who for some reason I could not find any socials from where they operate. Thanks to a few members of the hockey community, I was able to follow the Pan Am Hockey challenge.
But there are some who market their sport very well. T&T’s football association (despite some questionable graphic work) keeps tabs on their athletes and has even organized to stream some games for the women’s team. In basketball, the NBFTT has marketed their athletes well as well as notices for coaching clinics, team trials and 3×3 action in the recent tournament in Miami and their youth team in the Pan-American games. SporTT Company is a prime example of getting the word out when it comes to the performances of our national athletes. The Netball team even hosted a media day for their followers to get to know the netball team better. The Olympic Committee is always ready to let the public know how our Olympic athletes are performing.
Still, there is more that can be done with these sporting organizations when it comes to marketing their sport. The more up-to-date we are with our athletes across the many sports that our country compete in, and the more accessible their highlights and achievements are regularly are, the easier it is for the public to follow and engage and support our athletes.
A Proper Football League
Let’s be real: T&T’s local football is a lot to be desired.
No home stadiums for clubs, poor marketing, little to no television revenue and lack of support and revenue has the TT Pro League in an ugly state. It’s been inactive since the COVID Pandemic and attempts at starting a new league and organizing tournaments have been shut down. Since there’s no football playing either, that means local talent is suffering due to lack of game time and development within the clubs. It says something when INTERCOL football manages to pull in more crowds than a professional league.
With everything at a standstill, this is an opportunity for a revamped Pro League to plant the seeds. Organize sponsorship for the league, get marketing teams for the clubs and the league itself. Establish proper home grounds for the clubs and get the clubs’ respective communities involved in the daily running of the club. The league also needs support, so we the people also have a role to play in getting our football off the ground. Which leads into my last wish:
Support For Sport
The previous three wishes won’t come into fruition unless fans are willing to help push sport in Trinidad and Tobago. We claim to be a footballing nation, but we don’t do anything a regular sporting nation does. We don’t support our local professional clubs, we don’t buy their merchandise, we don’t follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
Some of us aren’t willing to go the extra mile and stream an event that our athletes are partaking in. How many of us know we have TWO basketball players in the NBA G League, and another player that signed in Europe recently? Or about the Women’s Hockey team that will be competing in Chile for the Pan-Am Cup in January? Or that the Netball team has two big tournaments within the next two years?
Of course there are some of us that follow sports here in T&T to a certain degree. But some is not enough. If only some of us attend local football games, the clubs would not be able to sustain themselves, much less any of the sports leagues that are present here. When the sporting organizations’ follower count is low, they would not see the point of posting quality content. If sports events are lacking spectators, corporate T&T would not see the point in investing any money in the sport. Local media houses wouldn’t see the point in broadcasting games.
So it’s up to us the supporters, fans, viewers, followers. We have to really show that we care about sport down here. If we could support the Lakers or the Warriors, we could support Shak Attack and Caledonia Clippers. If we could follow Manchester United and Chelsea, we could follow Central FC and W Connection. Support our athletes and support sport in Trinidad and Tobago.
