Tony Becca - FROM THE BOUNDARY

From the day when, as a little boy in Seaforth, St Thomas, I first heard of George Headley and his exploits with the bat, from the day I started playing the game with my twin brother and one of my bigger sisters at the side of the house with a coconut bough for a bat and a coconut baby for a ball, I have loved cricket, and I have loved it ever since.

In the early days, cricket was the sport through which Jamaicans, and West Indians, matched their skills against those of the wider world, especially so against England, the 'Mother Country', and because of that, cricket was the king of sport in this country.

Over the years, things changed, however, and today it has changed so much that although it still has a sentimental place in the society, cricket is no longer the number-one sport.

With boxers winning world titles, following on the triumphs at the Olympic Games in London and in Helsinki, with track and field stars winning Olympic and World Championship gold medals and setting world records, with footballers going to the World Cup finals, and with the netball team ranked as high as number three in the world, such have been the achievements of Jamaicans in other sports that today the names of boxers, footballers, track and field stars, and netballers, etc., etc., are also synonymous with success.

In fact, Jamaicans have become so successful in so many sports that every day more and more Jamaicans are getting more and more involved in sport, they are trying their best not only to compete with the best but to become the best in each and every one, and on the surface, nothing is wrong with that.

unreasonable

What is unreasonable, however, is that so many Jamaicans are attempting to compete and to become the best in so many sports.

It is unreasonable simply because those already involved and those getting involved in the attempts are looking to the Government to fund their participation.

Every day, in the media, there are pleas to the Government for financial help, and the pleas come not only from those who have worked hard and have achieved, but also from those who have not achieved and from those who are starting out and with nothing, not even their own dedication, their own sacrifices, to recommend them.

Sometimes the pleas for financial help even come not only from Jamaicans living abroad, but also from the sons and daughters of Jamaicans living abroad - from those who were born abroad, who live abroad, and from those who, most of them, only decide to represent Jamaica because of the odds against them representing the land of their birth.

I remember one night in England some years ago, after his father had tried to get me to promote him as a good footballer who should be invited home to represent Jamaica, an 18-year-old England-born young man looked at me and said: "Mr Becca, please don't listen to daddy. Every day he keeps talking about Jamaica. I don't even know where Jamaica is."

In years gone by, the Government was responsible for recreation sport in institutions like schools and youth clubs, sports clubs and national associations were responsible for taking sport to the levels beyond that, and unless the Government is looking at sport as an industry, that is how it should be.

Every man has a right to do his thing, and to follow his dream, and I would certainly not like to live in a society where I am told by anyone what I can do, within the laws, and what I cannot do.

There are certain things which some society can afford and some cannot afford, however, and as much as it would like to assist the poor and the underprivileged to play sport, to do what they want to do and to realise their dreams, Jamaica, as a poor country, cannot afford to fund sports to the extent that those in sport want it to be funded.

People in this country keep talking about professional sport, and although they keep talking about the involvement of the private sector, they keep whispering about the involvement of the Government and about what the Government should do in an effort to make Jamaica the greatest country in sport in the whole wide world.

The Government, however, and especially one in a country such as Jamaica and unless sport becomes an industry, cannot afford to get involved in funding sport at all levels, and it should not fund professional sport.

Professional sport must be funded by sport - by gate receipts, by television, by sponsorship, by marketing, and by merchandising.

looking after the people

As important as sport is to a nation's psyche, and especially so to the psyche of a country like Jamaica, no government, and especially one as poor as Jamaica, has the right to take taxpayers' money and fund the participation of sportsmen and sportswomen in international sports when its people are suffering and hurting.

Why should millions of dollars be spent flying sportsmen and sportswomen around the world not only for big international events, but also for practice matches when poor Jamaicans are suffering from basic requirements?

The Government should help and must help, and there can be no question about. A good govern-ment, however, looks after its people, and it looks after its people before it looks at sport. It is as simple as that, or should be as simple as that.

I love sport, I love to see great sportsmen and sportswomen in action. In a country like Jamaica, sport has been a way up the ladder for a few of the many numbered among the underprivileged, success in sport, and especially so in a country like Jamaica, impacts the national psyche, and there is no question about it, as it did in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, sport has played an important role in the fight against injustice around the world.

As much as I love sport, however, as much as I know that all that is true, as much as I know of its greatness and of its contribution to a society, and as much as I love to see the flag fluttering in the sky, I also know of the sufferings of the people - of those who are hurting, and dying, because of something thing like poor health care, faulty medical equipment and the lack of drugs not to mention crime.

Although it is not the most important part of any society, sport is important, and there can be no question about that.

funding

What is most important, however, is support for sport by those who love sport. Gate receipt is the best way to fund sport. Because of the numbers of those who pay at the gate, sponsors fall in line and things like television revenue, marketing, and merchandising are easier to come by.

According to Captain Horace Burrell, the indefatigable president of the JFF, the match against Canada at the National Stadium this evening marks the beginning, the early beginning, of the campaign for World Cup 2014. He has been pleading for support through the gates, and hopefully, his dream will come thue.

This is the time to start supporting the sport you love - to show that Jamaicans really love sport, that Jamaicans really love football, and most important, that football can support itself.

In the final analysis, sport, elite sport, any sport any where in the world, including football, netball, cricket, and track and field in Jamaica, should stand on its own.

The people's money should be and must be reserved for those Jamaicans, and especially so old men and old women, baby boys and baby girls, who are suffering day after day, night after night, right around Jamaica, those who cannot help themselves and who really need it.

Times have changed, but many years ago when I asked about money for sport, the prime minister of the day looked me straight in the eye, and said: "Tony Becca, what do you want me to do, take poor people's money, suffering poor people, and give it to fit, healthy young men and women in search of glory?"

Jamaica Football Federation president, Captain Horace Burrell.