Sports Media in Grenada - My Experience

This is my initial post on this matter which is begging to be addressed. I am not the sole expert but the sports media in Grenada needs to re-ignite the passion in the community once again.

I started from the 'ole school' with the likes of Rae Roberts, Trevor Thwaites, and Harold Pysadee. Listening to these guys cover the local sporting events.

Football, Track and Field and boxing were the feeding ground. I tagged along listening and getting to know the players and sports administrators. I was confident that my time would come.

But even before that, I was already writing sports for the GRIOT Magazine and the Grenadian Voice. I was all over the playing field.

The transition was quite easy since I had a base - an urge to share the excitement with the public.

I was practicising commentary. I would go to the park (old Queen's Park) and do my own commentary on a football game. My shortwave radio would keep me in touch with the latest football and sporting events from around the world.

I was comfortable walking the streets with a transistor (aerial pointing) scanning for the latest news.

So, there was this urge to get information.

The next thing was to share the information. You must attain some knowledge. So here is where a number of people gave assistance. It's not an exhaustive list: Rae Roberts, Trevor Thwaites, Harold Pysadee, Selwin Noel, Hamlet Mark, Leslie Pierre ( Mr Pierre had a passion for cycling and I recalled doing an interview with him when the track & field stadium was being built and he was pressing the need for a velodrome, he speaks of this even to this day), Alvin Clouden, Lew Smith, Richard Simon, Conrad Francis and Veda Bruno-Victor, Kenny Hobson, Ram Folkes, Ambrose Phillip, Bobby Benjamin, and the list goes on. And then there is this simple Jamaican fellow, Lance Whittaker. He is my mentor. Let me share a secret with you about Lance. He is not only a great sportscaster, but he is a good singer!

Lance continues to inspire me even though we communicate periodically.

But my sparring pal was Rawle Titus. We spanned the island covering the events as they happen. Vividly I remembered us both sharing commentary on the old cellular phone, among the first introduced by then GRENTEL. We called it the "Phone Booth".

They provided valuable assistance and I was encouraged.

This inspiration was trickling to spending more time in the field. Trying to cover every sporting event. I didn't have a vehicle, so I would be there long before the event was scheduled to begin.

It was the glory days of sports in Grenada. Football was at its peak - the inaugural Shell Caribbean Cup final in Barbados; Track & Field - Junior CARIFTA Games around the region.

We had a lot to celebrate, and the sports media provided the information.

Then the early days of YSFM Radio (the Hamlet Mark initiative) with a committed and an excited staff that brought a new synergy, providing sports coverage wherever it happened.

Who will forget listening to Total Coverage on Saturdays and Sundays - a roundup of cricket matches in St Andrew and St David. Guys were eager to provide information to the listening public from various playing fields.

But these days, even with inexpensive high-end technology, including mobile phones and Internet, we can hardly get a good package of local sports.

Rae is trying to keep the momentum, even though it's on a small scale and Rawle is re-entering after an absence of a few years due to studies.

But we need to encourage some young men and women to see the sports media as a career. How do we go about doing that, is an offer for discussion?

In 1999, when Grenada staged its inaugural one-day international at the new Queen's park Stadium, there were scores of local journalists in the press box. I recalled a regional colleague asking me, since when Grenada had so many sports journalists.

It was a new experience so I sympathised. But the following year, there was a regional first class match at the same venue and outside of the regular faces around sporting events, there wasn't a single member from the local media.

I won't get into the issue of the ICC CWC 2007 but by now the message must be clear to all - there'll be no exceptions.

Returning to the main issue, the challenge now is to rekindle the sports media in Grenada.

Let's start the debate!

HISTORICALLY:

During my school days I carried a large bag everyday, puzzling my teachers about the real contents. The secret, I had a radio - a gift from a relative, and I would slip out of class to listen to the midday news. Even on Saturdays, attending classes in the large GBSS Auditorium, I would try to conceal my baggage, until Mr Victor Ashby (Principal) challenged me to show him the contents of my bag (in the presence of the entire class).

It was embarrassing but it was a relief since it was the end of the 'dodging game'. My confidence grew and I was mentally prepared for the challenge. I began hanging around the people who were making that impact.

It's a longer story, but I thought the experience was worthwhile.