Thursday 20th June 2019 will live long in my memory and the memories of the team at the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) for more reasons than one. On that day in Birmingham, England, Annette Knott and I, wearing our T&T Commonwealth Games Association (TTCGA) hats, had 30 minutes to convince the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) executive board, which was led by its president Louise Martin, that T&T should be trusted with the honour of hosting the 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games.
It also showed that T&T was facing a tall mountain and going in against the odds is not an exaggeration.
Gibraltar was considered the safe pair of hands. They were mere weeks away from hosting the 2019 Island Games. The actual opening ceremony is July 6th and would end a week late on July 12th, with 14 sports and 2,000 athletes. So Gibraltar was as prepared as any potential host could be. No drama. No stress.
It has been highlighted in the media and public domain that T&T's bid proposal had at the centre of its concept the voice of young people. Their ideas, their opinion on how they imagine the Commonwealth Youth Games to be.
What Knott and I had to do was articulate the message of the young people of T&T and that we did with pride and passion.
In addition, when Northern Ireland pulled out and the CGF had to seek a replacement host, the decision to throw T&T's hat in the ring wasn't based on a mere fanciful quixotic tilt. No. It was based on the T&T Olympic Committee's incessant advocacy for a sports industry here in T&T.
The TTOC hosts a sports industry conference annually. That T&T can be a serious player in the global sports tourism sector is a long-standing view of the TTOC.
But it's not an easy task to deliver a multi-sport event involving 71 countries across nine sports.
So suggestions made by those who know better than the fact that the Commonwealth Youth Games is a simple event and not complicated must have been an inadvertent mistake. No international multi-sport event is simple and uncomplicated.
Furthermore, T&T has no history of staging a multi-sport event of the stature of a Commonwealth multi-sport event. Our first attempt - the 2009 Caribbean Games - was cut short due to the H1N1 virus - a debacle that undermined T&T's international reputation as a legitimate and credible multi-sport host.
So let's not do as if the Commonwealth Youth Games is a small thing.
If we are serious about our sport tourism ambitions and putting to good use billions of dollars of world-class facilities, everyone coming together with an open mind and no ulterior motives or sinister agenda is a strategic imperative.
The 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games can either be a catalyst for T&T's sport tourism aspirations or it could be our Waterloo.
The choice is ours to make. Winning the bid wasn't easy. It's therefore important that we grab the opportunity and nip in the bud foolish and petty thinking and motives.
I wish to place on record the T&TOC's gratitude for the support of the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Ms Shamfa Cudjoe, and the Government. Without the letter of government guarantee, the bid process should have been a non-starter. It was imperative that the bid proposal included an official letter of government support.
As I write today's blog/column I am still making my way home.
I look forward to discussing this historic effort. I am aware that there are those who have their doubts and concerns. The coming weeks will be important as time is not Trinbago's 2021 friend. There is no margin for error. Nor is it the time for personal battles.