Don Anderson | A call for Sports as a stand-alone ministry

There have been recent suggestions from JOA boss Chris Samuda, economist Keenan Falconer among others for the government of the day to work with a stand-alone sport ministry, rather than tie this to another ministry or ministries as has been the pattern over the last two or more decades.

In the past we have had the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the Ministry of Labour and Sport, both of which were headed by Portia Simpson Miller, former prime minister. We have even had Simpson Miller as Prime Minister holding in principle the Sport Ministry while being leader of the government, although she did have Natalie Neita Headley executing the functions of sport minister. This is perhaps the closest we have come to having a Minister oversee the responsibility of so important a portfolio as a stand-alone entity.

Current Sport Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange also has responsibility for culture, gender and entertainment. What is consistent in all of this is that sport is always the last mentioned in each case, giving the appearance that sports is an appendage rather the super ministry it ought to be, given how important sports has been to whatever positive reputation we have enjoyed as a country.

Very few countries, large or small, can boast of our tremendous achievements in this discipline which started from our involvement in the Central and Caribbean Games in the 1930s. We then exploded in the 1948 Olympic Games in London, stamping our presence in those games with the performances of our track and field greats; Herb McKenly, Arthur Wint, George Rhoden and Les Laing and others.

Since then, there has hardly been a year in which we have not won medals at the Olympic Games. In more recent times, we have recorded performances that have had us ranked in the top three consistently at the Summer Olympic Games in track & field and among the most highly respected countries globally, because of our successes.

Our exploits in several other sports, boxing, cycling, swimming, to name a few, in which we have produced world champions and top class Olympic performances, make us stand out in Global sports, like few other countries. In a survey conducted by my company a few years back, Sports (62 per cent) followed by our music (21 per cent) were spontaneously mentioned as the two things that underpinned our positive reputational internationally.

UNEARTH UNREALISED POTENTIAL

Minister Grange has done exceedingly well to balance the demands of her four ministry portfolios so that the call for a separation of sport from others is no indictment on her. Instead, this call is against the background of the accepted need for Sports to be accorded the level of attention, thought and support it truly deserves, given our stature internationally, but even more to unearth the tremendous unrealised potential for development of this industry and business, as sport has become.

The time is appropriate for sport to receive the benefit of serious introspection as to where we are, deep analysis as to where we want to take it and the development of a cohesive plan to really squeeze out the exceedingly fantastic, immeasurable all-round talent and potential we have. The notion that we punch far above our weight is a given, considering how well we have done in almost any sport area, encompassing summer sports and now winter sports, with Bobsled, Slalom, Ice Hockey and Curling.

The time is now for the re-activation of the National Sports Council, under the Ministry of Sports, which could give oversight direction to the formation of our sports policy and act in tandem with the national federations and the Olympic body to execute a programme to drive efficiencies in our sports administration. While each of the aforementioned bodies would maintain their autonomy as is mandated in most instances, the NSC would act as the body that would serve as a coordinating entity ensuring that all bodies involved in sport fully understand that the common goal is to drive excellence in sports administration to maintain and preserve our reputation, which we must guard jealously.

STRENGTHEN THIS LEGACY

We have achieved so much in sports as a nation, it would be a travesty if we did not seek to strengthen this legacy now., even as we are on the cusp of further greatness with the crop of athletes that we are producing. Indeed, we must also begin to look at ways in which we can retain our athletes in whatever sports, given the fact that countries with far greater resources than ours, both human and financial, are increasingly looking at us to strengthen their medal chances at Olympic and other international events.

All of these need a common sense of purpose, a common understanding of our objectives, a common strategic imperative. As an election looms and a “new” government takes office, now is the time to re-look at the need for a stand-alone sports ministry that could significantly get us closer to recognising that sports is indeed big business and that as a country we could earn significantly more than we are currently enjoying by creating a ministry of sport, which would be a super ministry.

Any country that has produced Bolt, Powell, Fraser Pryce, Jackson, Ottey, Quarrie, McCallum, Holding, Rowe, Campbell Brown, the greats of ’48 and 52, Thompson Herah, Blake (with apologies for notable omissions) deserves to have a stand-alone super ministry of sport.

Don Anderson spent 32 years as vice president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, and led Jamaican teams to 12 international and regional games -five of them being consecutive Olympic Games, including Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com