Tony Becca
THE PRESTIGIOUS Gleaner 'Man of the Year Award' was presented on Monday at a gala luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, and congratulations to the winner - or rather, to the winners.
Usually, the annual award is presented to one individual for his or her work and achievement in the society during the year under review. This time, however, eight men representing coaches and administrators in sport were the lucky ones and there is no doubt about it, each and every one of them - Stephen Francis, Raymond Graham, Mike Fennell, Maurice Wilson, Teddy McCook, Glen Mills, Fitz Coleman and Dennis Johnson - truly deserves the honour.
Why did The Gleaner this time around decide to honour coaches and administrators in sport? I do not know.
As someone in sport, however, as someone who appreciates the importance of sport in the society and to the society, as someone who knows of the great achievements of Jamaica's sportsmen and sportswomen, and as someone who knows of the great performances by Jamaica's sportsmen and sportswomen, what I do know is this:
Although Asafa Powell, the world's fastest man, was also honoured at the function, it is great that an institution like The Gleaner chose, this time around, not to once again honour only the country's champions, but to celebrate those who, through their love for the sport, their dedication, their commitment and their knowledge, through their work mostly behind the scenes, help to produce the champions.
When I looked at the eight men, I felt proud, and I felt proud because the photograph on the front page of Tuesday's Gleaner told me we had come a long way and that every Jamaican should be proud.
Without being ungrateful to the men and women of yesterday - to the foreigners who helped us to learn the fundamentals of many sports, including cricket and football, hockey and netball, track and field and table tennis, and who set us on the way - it was good to see, as it is in other sports like hockey and netball, that times have changed, that coaching in track and field is now in the hands of Jamaicans.
What is also important, what other sports like West Indies cricket and Jamaica's football should notice, is not only that Jamaicans are being coached by Jamaicans, but also that Jamaicans, despite being taught and guided by Jamaicans, are still numbered among the best in the world.
Demonstrating confidence
In other words, instead of running abroad for foreign coaches, instead of spending poor people's money on expensive foreign coaches and their entourage, the people in track and field, the most successful sport in Jamaica's history, stick to their own, and in doing so, not only do they not spend what they do not have to spend, not only do they not rob the people of the basic necessities of life in order to pay a coach, but they also demonstrate confidence in their own.
As it is in netball, a sport in which Jamaica is ranked number three in the world, track and field has placed its present and its future in the ability of Jamaicans to do a good job. It has encouraged them to do the job and, in the final analysis, the two sports will be better off for it, Jamaica, as a place, will be better off for it, and Jamaicans, as a people, will be better off for it.
According to those who love anything and everything foreign, according to those who cannot wait for success, one of the reasons why West Indies cricket and Jamaica's football need a foreign coach and his entourage is because West Indians in general and Jamaicans in particular do not listen to their own - have no respect for their own.
Apart from the fact that if that is really so, our leaders have failed us, it is strange that despite the violence, the corruption and the indiscipline that have been plaguing this society, despite all the talk by the politicians and the fact that noone is listening to them, noone, at least noone that I have heard, has embarrassed himself by calling for a return to British rule.
