"T&T has a very fragile memory of things that we do. I say fragile because it is easily forgotten and easily broken." - Winston "Gypsy" Peters.
Gypsy calls it a "fragile memory", I call it a "gone and forgotten" culture. We erase and start over throwing away in the process the benefits of history.
The inaugural edition of the Caribbean Games was held in Guadeloupe in 2022 from June 29 to July 3. It wasn't easy to get to that point following the 2009 cancellation of what would have been the first edition. T&T was the host but the government of the day (2009) cancelled due to the H1N1 Virus.
The Guadeloupe Games itself had to be pushed back from 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Games, eventually, was held literally against all odds.
The second edition was due to be held in 2025- this year- to date the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) has not found any CANOC member interested.
But back in June 2009- a June 25, 2009 headline in a T&T daily newspaper read - Questions Linger over cancellation.
According to the article: The H1N1 Virus has taken the blame for the cancellation of the inaugural Caribbean Games (July 12-19) and its ensuing implications but many stakeholders and critics remain unsatisfied as to the explanation for T&T's withdrawal as host.
But that 2009 ship has sailed.
What is the issue with the Caribbean Games that have seen the Games become a CANOC problem child? Why is there that perception? What impact did T&T's cancellation of the Games in 2009 have on the future of the Games?
In respect of the 2009 Games - there is still an unresolved financial matter to the tune of 10 million-plus TT dollars that is still to be determined by the liquidator PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) T&T. That's 16 years of millions of TT dollars in limbo.
The Caribbean Games should be embraced but it's not. Sunday (June 29) represented three years since Guadeloupe 2022 and could have been the day of the opening ceremony of the 2025 edition (the second CANOC Caribbean Games).
It's important when reflecting on the vagaries of life not to allow anger, resentment and ill will to consume your emotions.
In recent times, it has played out in the glare of the citizens of the twin-island Republic of T&T. The tendency to react to negative outcomes by seeking scapegoats and someone to blame. In the world of sport that's the pathway to repeated failure. Learning from failure requires that you first accept responsibility. It's a principle of success and excellence.
To move forward as a nation in every aspect of life including sport. We must learn from our history and be encouraged by it.
We owe that responsibility to our ancestors, the youth and generations not yet born.
On Saturday (June 28), the Belmont Exotic Stylish Sailors (B.E.S.S) attended the funeral of the legendary King Sailor and Belmont icon Jason Griffith, a barber by trade, who played fancy sailor mas from 1946. He learnt from George "Diamond Jim" Harding who started the fancy sailor mas in the late 1930s. Mr Griffith brought out fancy sailor bands from 1980.
He played football with the Colts team known as the "Belmont Battalion".
A true legend and icon a victim of T&T's gone and forgotten culture.
