CARICOM intervention must be the start of a wider sports commitment

by Michael Bascombe

The confirmation that Guyana will host the 2027 CARIFTA Games and Barbados the 2028 edition is welcome news. It ends uncertainty and signals that CARICOM leaders are beginning to recognise that regional sport cannot be limited to cricket.

The Heads of Government deserve to be commended for responding quickly after NACAC Athletics appealed for help. But this intervention must be the start of a wider commitment, not an emergency measure to rescue one championship.

Sport needs a permanent seat at the regional discussion table. The Caribbean cannot continue to speak about youth development, public health, education, tourism, and economic opportunity while treating sport as an occasional item, raised only when a crisis develops.

NACAC President Mike Sands said the appeal to CARICOM stressed the urgent need for a host and the wider value of sport to the region’s young people. During Thursday’s media briefing, he did not identify the messenger, but hinted that NACAC had found an emissary. He said one territory had been prepared to host, without giving details.

That naturally raises the question: did Grenada help convince regional leaders that the CARIFTA Games must remain on the calendar?

The timing is difficult to ignore. Against that background, it is fair to ask whether Grenada played a part in bringing the matter to the attention of CARICOM leaders. Having hosted the Games twice in three years, including the 2026 edition at short notice, Grenada understood both their importance and the growing burden placed on smaller host countries.

Although no details have been made public about how the issue reached the CARICOM conference room, the timing and the outcome leave the impression that Grenada may have helped convince regional leaders that the CARIFTA Games must remain firmly on the regional sporting calendar.

CARICOM Heads should now mandate their respective sports ministers to develop a sustainable regional framework with NACAC and other sporting organisations. That discussion should address host rotation, government guarantees, facilities, travel costs, broadcast opportunities, athlete welfare, and long-term financing.

Football, cricket, basketball, boxing, swimming, netball, the Olympic movement, and other regional bodies should also be invited into the conversation. The problems facing CARIFTA are not unique to athletics.

Guyana and Barbados have secured the immediate future of the Games. CARICOM must now help secure the wider future of Caribbean sport.

CARIFTA Games secured for 2027 and 2028 following CARICOM intervention

by Michael Bascombe

NASSAU, Bahamas, July 23, 2026 – The immediate future of the CARIFTA Games has been secured, with Guyana confirmed as host in 2027 and Barbados taking responsibility for the region’s premier junior track and field championships in 2028, according to the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC).

NACAC Athletics said Thursday that the commitments followed the swift intervention and support of the CARICOM Heads of Government after the two member federations that had expressed an interest in hosting the 2027 Games withdrew.

Their withdrawal came just days before the 51st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, held in Saint Lucia from July 5–8.

NACAC subsequently appealed directly to the CARICOM leaders, highlighting the urgent need to secure a host and the broader value of sport to the region’s young people.

“On behalf of the NACAC Athletics Council, officials, and athletes of the NACAC Athletics family, I wish to thank the CARICOM Heads for their swift and positive response in support of the CARIFTA Games,” NACAC Athletics President Mike Sands said during a media briefing.

“I especially thank President Ali of Guyana and Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados for agreeing to host CARIFTA 2027 and 2028. This secures the immediate future of what is arguably the world’s premier junior athletics event.”

The announcement ends several months of uncertainty surrounding the Games after prospective hosts failed to secure the required government guarantees.

Saint Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago had expressed an interest in hosting the 2027 championships. However, neither federation had obtained the necessary government guarantee when Sands addressed the matter during an appearance on the TalkSports programme on May 30.

NACAC also praised Grenada for hosting the 2026 Games at short notice, marking the second time in three years that the country had staged the championships.

According to the regional governing body, the 2026 Games recorded the widest television and livestream viewership in CARIFTA history, reaching audiences across the Caribbean, the United States, and Europe.

NACAC has since taken control of the broadcast rights to its events, a move intended to reach wider audiences and generate new revenue for regional athletics.

“Grenada’s willingness to host twice in three years speaks to its commitment to youth development, but it also reminds us of the real demands hosting places on our smaller island states,” Sands said.

“Sustaining the CARIFTA Games will take continued partnership between our governments and sporting bodies.”

NACAC is expected to engage the relevant authorities in Guyana and Barbados to support early planning for both editions while continuing discussions with CARICOM leaders on a more sustainable framework for athletics and major youth sporting events in the Caribbean.

 

Journalists urge a structured hosting model for CARIFTA Games

by Michael Bascombe

NEW YORK, July 18, 2026 - Two regional sports journalists have called for a more structured and coordinated approach to selecting and managing hosts of the CARIFTA Games, following confirmation that Guyana will stage the regional junior athletics championship in 2027 and Barbados in 2028.

Terry Finisterre of St Lucia and Dennis Allen of Trinidad and Tobago, appearing on TalkSports on Saturday, examined what the CARICOM announcement means for the immediate future and long-term stability of the Games.

Finisterre said the confirmation provides some certainty but highlighted the need for closer cooperation between governments and athletics administrators. He noted that Guyana had previously offered to host, but political and athletic commitments had not always been fully aligned.

“NACAC and CARICOM have to be working hand in glove going forward,” Finisterre said. He suggested a formal MOU or “ironclad contract,” adding: “They have to agree going forward that this is the methodology by which we are going to assign the CARIFTA Games.”

Finisterre also called for greater continuity between successive local organising committees. Instead of creating new social media pages, media groups and operating systems each year, he said those assets, along with manuals and other organisational material, should be transferred from one host to the next.

“You just hand over the group, you hand over the social media handles, you hand over the manual,” he said.

He believes hosts should be identified three or four years in advance, supported by timelines, contingency plans and representatives from NACAC and CARICOM.

Allen, meanwhile, said Guyana faces significant logistical challenges ahead of 2027, particularly in accommodation, transportation and access to the track facility. He estimated that the country may have to accommodate and move close to 2,000 people, requiring coordination among the athletics association and the ministries responsible for sport, tourism, finance, infrastructure and public works.

“I think that it’s going to pose a challenge to Guyana, not just athletics, but the sports ministry, tourism ministry, finance and infrastructure, public works ministry to get everything up there,” Allen said.

However, Allen expressed confidence in Guyana’s ability to deliver if preparations begin immediately.

“Everything that I have talked about has to be done in 2026,” he said.

Finisterre also urged World Athletics, NACAC, CARICOM and regional governments to support improved broadcasting and commercial development, saying CARIFTA should become “a standalone property that can sustain itself.”

The journalists maintained that the Games’ long-term stability will depend on earlier decisions, stronger institutional cooperation and a permanent framework that extends beyond individual governments and organising committees.

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Grenada names teams for Commonwealth and CAC Games amid scheduling clash

by Michael Bascombe

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, July 15, 2026 - Olympic champion Kirani James is set to make his first appearance at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games after being named among Grenada’s representatives for the 2026 edition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The Grenada Olympic Committee (GOC) officially announced the country’s teams on Wednesday for the CAC Games and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

James will contest the men’s 400 metres in Santo Domingo, where he will be joined on the athletics team by Anderson Peters, Lindon Victor, Nazzio John, Joshem Sylvester, Kelsie Muriel Ross, and Suerena Alexander. Grenada will also be represented in swimming by Gabrielle Hayson and Jacob Collymore, while Thorina Mitchell, Renisha Stafford, Jonel Phillip, and Darron Oxford will compete in beach volleyball.

The CAC Games will run from July 24 to August 8, overlapping almost entirely with the Commonwealth Games, scheduled for July 23 to August 2.

Grenada’s Commonwealth Games athletics contingent includes Peters, Victor, Sylvester, Jamara Patterson, Michael Francois, and Shaquane Toussaint. Swimmers Tilly Collymore and Zackary Gresham, cyclist Red Walters, and para-athlete Nickel Walters complete the country’s competing delegation.

The scheduling conflict has raised concerns throughout the Caribbean, with several athletes and national Olympic committees eligible to participate in both championships.

Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) President Keith Joseph described the situation as a “conundrum” for regional members that maintain affiliations with both Commonwealth Sport and Centro Caribe Sports.

Joseph said the clash had forced members to wrestle with divided loyalties while potentially weakening participation, attendance, and the overall marketability of both events.

“CANOC regrets the clash of dates that has brought us to a stage where torn loyalties threaten the viability of both events,” he said.

Joseph called for greater international dialogue, planning, and coordination when scheduling future multi-sport competitions.

The conflict is particularly significant as Centro Caribe Sports celebrates the centenary of the inaugural CAC Games, staged in Mexico City in 1926. The Commonwealth Games movement is expected to mark its centenary when India hosts the 2030 Games in Amdavad.

Debellotte says school systems must better support sporting development

by Michael Bascombe 

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, July 12, 2026 - Former Grenada national football coach Ali Debellotte believes the country's education system needs to do more to support the development of young athletes, arguing that many promising footballers are being lost because they are unable to combine their studies with sport.

Debellotte made the comments during an appearance on the TalkSports programme on Saturday while discussing lessons Caribbean countries can learn from the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

He said the development of football begins in the schools and that the present structure is limiting opportunities for many talented players.

"I think Caribbean football has to shift, and it comes from school. It comes from school in Grenada," he said.

Using the T.A. Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) as an example, Debellotte said he has observed talented footballers who are enrolled in academic programmes that do not include sport, preventing them from representing the institution.

"There are several sports programmes at TAMCC, but students are placed according to the subjects they are studying," he said. "You see these guys who are playing good football, but they are in another class where they don't have to do sport."

He questioned why national players attending the college were not automatically involved in its sporting programme.

"Here you are with two or three national players at TAMCC, but they are not in the sports programme. I ask them why they are not playing football, and they tell me, 'Coach, we are not in that programme.'"

Debellotte believes the situation has had an impact on the progression of players through Grenada's national youth teams.

He pointed to the country's Under-15 programme, noting that many of the players identified four years ago have not progressed to the Under-19 national team.

"When you look at the Under-15 team from four years ago, only two or three of those players are on the Under-19 team. Something has to be wrong," he said.

"You play Under-15, Under-16 and Under-17, and then you can't make the Under-19 team."

According to Debellotte, one of the reasons is that students are increasingly forced to prioritise academics over sport.

"More emphasis is on school and no more on the playing," he said.

He questioned why other countries have found ways to combine education and sport successfully while Grenada and other Caribbean nations continue to struggle.

"All around the world they seem to be able to match education and sport, but we can't do it in Grenada, or maybe in most of the Caribbean islands," he said. "Some of the problems we have in sport today, I could tell you, in Grenada, it starts in the school."

Debellotte believes that unless young athletes are given greater opportunities to continue their sporting development while pursuing their education, Grenada will continue to face challenges in producing players capable of progressing through the national ranks.

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