This past week, in the midst of all the bad news, Trinidad and Tobago had those moments we often dream of when our athletes made us proud at the Commonwealth Games in England.
The country applauded with pride, and rightfully so, the achievements of triple medallist Nicholas Paul, double medallist Jareem Richards and his 4x400 teammates, the 4x100 metres men's relay team and the other athletes.
Paul gave T&T its first cycling gold medal in over half a century with the keirin title and added silver (sprint) and bronze (kilometre time trial) to become the country's first triple medallist at a single games. Richards surpassed his personal best in taking the 200 metres and 4x400 metres gold alongside Dwight St Hillaire, Asa Guevara and Machel Cedenio, ending this country’s 56-year gold medal drought in this event at the Games. T&T last won the Commonwealth 4x400 title in 1966, when Lennox Yearwood, Kent Bernard, Edwin Robert and Wendell Mottley topped the field in Jamaica.
Our chests swelled with pride when we heard the National Anthem played on the steelpan twice as proud athletes stood on the rostrum with gold medals on their chests. Never mind that as we approach 60 years of independence, we are yet to declare steelpan the national instrument.
Yet, our lack of focus on that declaration is perhaps equal only to the lack of attention paid to ensuring there are proper training facilities and events to give young local talent a proper foundation for international events.
Many times, the success of these young men and women hinges on them leaving T&T on scholarships or to train with professional outfits on foreign soil. Yet, their love of country remains in their hearts as they proudly wear the T&T colours when they get to regional and international championships.
It is commendable that nationals used social media platforms to encourage the athletes to achieve excellence. This did not go unnoticed by Cedenio, who thanked the fans for the love showed to them, noting it spurred them on to their gold-winning performance.
Now that the athletes have done us proud, it is time citizens give something back to them for their drive and commitment.
Already, Sports Minister Shamfa Cudjoe has announced the medallists will be well rewarded through the 2017-2027 Reward and Incentives Framework.
We hope that in addition to this monetary reward, these young men will be used as mentors in state programmes for our youth at a time when it is so desperately needed. Their achievements can also be recognised in a tangible way at this year’s Independence/Republic Day Awards ceremony.
More importantly, however, we hope the National Amateur Athletics Association and other sporting bodies with responsibility for athletes get their acts together to find ways to collaborate with the Government and corporate T&T to give athletes the platforms to achieve in future.
This country is awash with talent but many sporting athletes fall through the cracks because there is no opportunity for real development locally.
The Jamaicans continue to shine on the world stage and maybe there is a lesson in their model for the authorities here to look at. Approaching this most important juncture of our T&Ts history, however, we must look for ways to chart a new and more productive course for future athletic teams.