The Bahamas Rugby Union hosted a Caribbean Regional Tournament here last year. It was a smashing success, culminating in the local national team winning the North Division.


But beyond that success on the field, the overall deportment of the rugby executives, officials, players and fans was exceptional and an example for other sports disciplines to emulate.




There are a few other sports organizations that are administratively sound and good at "self-initiatives" also but for this purpose the rugby folks are singled out to make an important point.


The programme for the tournament was very much together. The arrangements were great and the overall organization was extraordinary. The rugby family organized their very own funding through cookouts and other initiatives and pulled off one of the best ever hosting jobs within the region.


Sports Minister, Hon. Neville Wisdom confessed to me that he was astounded.

"They just wanted primarily my presence from an official perspective. It was really a very meaningful occasion for me. It was a comfort zone interacting with the rugby people, the fans, enjoying the great atmosphere and of course the ultimate success of our players was just the icing on the cake,"

Wisdom said in a post-tournament analysis.

A great example to follow indeed and a pleasant exception these days!


The norm is for organizations to run scurrying to the Ministry of Sports or The Bahamas Olympic Association whenever faced with hosting an event or processing a team for travel to regional or international events. Yes, this is the ordinary way most of our sports organizations function.

Follow up:

Not only that... but when grants have been received and used up, with little notice, they pounce upon the Ministry of Sports once again and often the BOA, requesting financial assistance. This same scenario goes on again and again throughout each sports year.


Whenever there is some resistance, there follows subtle threats of informing the public that deserving Bahamian athletes will lose an opportunity to compete because of the lack of funding.


This is no joke. On countless occasions the Ministry of Sports is held over a barrel every year by sports administrators who lack the zeal and the wherewithal to generate funding programmes for their organizations.


Granted, this business of sports administration is no longer a piece of cake. The demand and the peer pressure around the world is so great that sports administrators, if they are to do quality jobs, are faced almost with being on top of the respective situations full-time.


So, a decision has to be made.


Don’t accept a nomination for a sports executive position unless prepared to live up to the responsibility that goes along with election, or appointment.


Sports organizations must now be operated like companies, structured properly with all executive hands on deck performing their duties. One of those important requirements is to always have a fund-raising programme going. In other parts of the world, and yes even in our very own region, sporting bodies organize on their very own ‘initiative’, events to generate funds to assist allotments from the national governments.


Just recently, The Bahamas Olympic Association spent in the neighbourhood of $200,000 to send a 12-team delegation to the Cartagena Central American and Caribbean Games.


Let’s ask the question.


How many of those organizations held cookouts or other fund drives to assist?


Quite frankly the general situation in sports today calls for all concerned to hold hands and get the job done. This is the only way The Commonwealth of The Bahamas will come close to maximizing its true potential on the world sports stage.


The plea today from this space is for sports administrators to take a good hard look at how they have been operating and pledge to initiate some ongoing self-help programmes. There is just so much funding that the Sports Ministry and the BOA can come up with.


Just, some food for though.


Source: Fred Sturrup, The Bahama Journal


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