FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE NSC SPEAKS CANDIDLY WITH ADVO MAGAZINE

by David Harris

Former director of the National Sports Council (NSC) Erskine King is hopeful about the future of Barbadian athletes, even though he believes that they are sometimes at a disadvantage due to the lack of outlets to showcase their talent.

“I have a lot of optimism for some of our athletes in some of the sporting disciplines; in track and field there are several young people involved and making a name for themselves,, and in other sports like golf, tennis, and squash. They are sometimes at a disadvantage for outlets. When athletes are developed up to a point but there are no outlets to go and showcase their talent it ends there. Sometimes it is a question of funding or the lack of facilities; but I know of countries whose facilities are more meager than Barbados, and yet they have done better than us, because there is the guts and determination to want to do well “, King told Advo Magazine.

He recalled being in Cuba in the 1990s and going to watch the Cuban athletes training in the mid-day sun: “At that time Cuba had a world rated track and field team including Javier Sotomayor, the renowned high jumper and two -time Olympic gold multiple World Champion. I was surprised that the officials took us to watch the athletes training at 12.30 in the afternoon. The sun was boiling hot, and the athletes explained that most of the international track and field events took place in the cool of the evening; and if they could when the sun was extremely hot, competing in the evening when it is cool would be a cake walk. Can you envisage a coach telling Barbadian parents they want their son or daughter to train at mid-day ?  They would think that the coach is a madman, and asked if they wanted to give their child a stroke; but if athletes train in adverse conditions when the surroundings are more suitable it is easier”.

According to King, the athletes must be hungry in their quest for success, and be prepare to work hard for it. He stressed that the support of the national associations and parents are vital to the development of young sportsmen and women. 

King pointed out that Barbados would be hard pressed to support financially 100 elite athletes; therefore, some disciplines are going to receive more assistance than others.

” The policy has always been to prioritize the sports that would bring medals to the country like track and field, and boxing that our athletes were competitive in at the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Games, and the Olympics, but that does not mean the other sports were discarded. Wide ranging discussions were always held to determine how to allocate funds to the over 60 sporting disciplines that we have, which is always going to be a problem”, he explained.

“We have competed well at the regional level in basketball, volleyball, netball and table tennis and couple of other sports, but team sports are a bit more expensive for the organisations that fund them , whether it be a national association, the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) or the National Sports Council (NSC) . The funding of athletes is complicated, even if the field is narrowed down, to 10 or 12 sports there are still some disciplines that are going to receive more funding, because sometimes individuals are involved. For example, a track and field athlete who might require specialist training. I believe some thinking has to be done on the funding of elite athletes; if that can be done, and a comprehensive plan is developed”. I think occasionally a star in track will emerge. We have athletes that done well over the years, they may not have won medals at the Olympics, but they have brought joy to the nation with their performance at the Commonwealth Games, and Pan American Games “, he added.

King acknowledged that there are not enough large corporations in the island to inject millions of dollars into sports, but believe that if a strategic plan is created to fund athletes Corporate Barbados will come on board.

     “I believe that Corporate Barbados will join in as long as they see something is happening, they will give assistance in whatever way that is possible. We don’t have large corporation that put millions of dollars into sports@, King said

King disclosed that he made a suggestion during his tenure as director of sports which he felt could have injected millions of dollars into sports in Barbados but the proposal was not accepted.

“When I was director of sports, we had at that stage several athletes that were highly rated in the Pan American region; such as Obadele Thompson, Andrea Blackett, and Nicky Neckles. Our basketball and volleyball teams were powerhouses in the regional. I suggested that we used our commercial attachés in our embassies to open the door with one of the big sportwear companies to get to sponsor the Barbados team in all disciplines for around $25 to $30 million dollars annually in whatever competitions we were participating in regionally or internationally. For 365 days the company logo would have been displayed on Team Barbados at whatever tournament that we were taking part in. If we don’t try an ideal; we will never know if it would work. But that suggestion was not pursued with any vigor, In my opinion, $25 million would have been child play for an internatioal corporation with a big advertising budget”, King said.