CANOC Appeals For Change In CARICOM Heads' Approach To Sport

Keith Joseph - CANOCs President

by Keith Joseph - President

Dear Colleagues and Friends 

The Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) has taken the bold step in calling for a change in the approach to sport in the Caribbean by the Heads of Government of CARICOM member countries. 

At the level of CANOC, we understand and remain appreciative of the efforts of the Heads of Government of the region in respect of the concerns they have had for the fortunes of West Indies Cricket, the first sporting institution from this part of the world to engage itself in international sports competition. The physical infrastructure in every Caribbean country has been provided, for the most part, by the respective governments, and we are all very grateful for the support that the sport has received with the hosting of international and regional competitions that have delighted populations everywhere. 

As many cricket historians have placed on record, cricket once held the aspirations of the peoples of the Caribbean. The sport was a means of helping us showcase our talent on the field of play and prove ourselves capable of holding our own in head-to-head matches. Success on the field of play translated into Caribbean peoples, while under the yoke of colonialism, being able to walk tall, confident that we were earning respect and that our dignity was increasingly being acknowledged. 

But history has also shown that our peoples have come to display our remarkable talent in other sports, especially in track and field athletics with the sporting excellence of Jamaica’s Arthur Wint, Herb McKenley and the 4 x 400m relay gold medallists at the Summer Olympics of 1948 and1952 respectively. Today, the Caribbean is expected to perform well above their size and economic resources in athletics. Our footballers have shown their worth and continue to prove attractive to international professional teams around the world. 

It remains that in the face of our sporting successes, our CARICOM Heads have apparently got stuck at the level of cricket being seen and treated by them as the single most important sport that holds significance to the peoples of the Caribbean. Not even the world record breaking performances and sprinting dominance of the great Usain Bolt has allowed the region’s political leadership to turn their attention to the global impact of athletics on our international standing, as a result of sport. 

The point that CANOC wishes to drive home today is that with sport being one of the fastest growing industries, we must commit our region, as a collective, to the location of sport tourism as a viable pillar of our respective economies. The transformation of many of the region’s athletes into wealthy members of Caribbean society serves as an incredible incentive to successive generations of the region’s youths, eager to break the back of chronic unemployment, underemployment, gender inequality, youth despondency, vagrancy and incessantly spiralling crime and delinquency. 

In the face of rapidly global change and economic uncertainty, our Caribbean leaders must move to embracing sport in its multifaceted nature, well beyond the narrow confines of cricket. While remaining committed to the rich legacy of cricket, the reality of our successes in an increasing number of other sports must push us to an acknowledgement that we can benefit, economically, socially and otherwise, as a region, through the opportunities for building upon the solidarity and unity that sport engenders.

CANOC therefore appeals to our CARICOM leaders to facilitate a broad-based regional discourse on sport as a major pillar of regional development through unity. We must right the wrongs of our failure to build on the positives of the concept of a West Indies Federation to create a new Caribbean that takes its rightful place amongst the international community, looking after the common interests of our people.

Together or Nothing!