Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) President Brian Lewis has suggested sports administrators should "sacrifice some privileges" to better support athletes.

Lewis, who is also the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee President, made the comments during online talk show Coffee Talks.

The CANOC President highlighted the challenges faced by athletes when pursuing their aim of competing at the Olympic Games.

He referenced the TTOC medal bonus scheme introduced in 2015 as part of the "#10Golds24" project as a way to support athletes.

Lewis then questioned privileges enjoyed by sports administrators, suggesting cutbacks could be made to benefit athletes.

"We don’t address the fact that the pursuit of the Olympic dream and Olympic podium dream consigns many athletes to poverty," he said, according to Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

"If they want to aspire to make the podium they can no longer do it recreationally.

"Why must athletes do this for free, sacrifice everything, while sports administrators and leaders stay at five-star hotels and get per diems?

"This was one of the reasons I created the Athlete Medal Bonus for our Olympic podium placing athletes.

"These are the things we need to look at.

"Maybe we need to sacrifice some of the privileges and lifestyle of sport administrators.

"We can use the savings to afford our athletes, especially those who excel by virtue of the podium, be afforded some sort of financial dignity."

Lewis has recently questioned whether sport leaders can be trusted to act on issues such as racism and sexism.

The CANOC President has also been a vocal advocate for gender equality, with the TTOC having held an Advancing Women in Leadership Forum earlier this month.

Lewis said there was a need for more men to support gender equality within the Olympic Movement.

"While the IOC has done a lot of work with gender equality in the field of play with the athlete, and while they have made progress in the boardroom, there is still a lot of work to be done," he said.

"There is no room for complacency.

"The sporting world has been an old boys club and the succession planning pipeline is full of men.

"Because of the patriarchy that surrounds sport for centuries, being old male and white.

"There is need also for men, it can’t be a woman only battle.

"Men in the Olympic Movement must be sincere and genuine in supporting and advocating that vision.

"It may mean that some men will have to make a decision to push forward women on merit."

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With over 32 years in sports leadership, there are few people who can claim to have had the depth of influence that Brian Lewis has had over the development of Caribbean sport.

Now the president of the TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) and the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC), he started out very differently, raised by a single mother in Belmont.

Minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharat (R) and president of the TT Olympic Committee Brian Lewis exercise around the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain. - Sureash Cholai

What was it like growing up in Belmont?

Some days it was nothing but hot water, tea and a dinner mint, and you went to sleep early.

Belmont was a hotbed of social activism. You had the the Black Power Movement and (everything revolved around) the steelbands. I used to get licks for running away to join them.

All the boys growing up had choices to make. Some were vexed at the world. But growing up, you always had a lot of sports. Sports was a big thing. You’re playing cricket.

You became aware of social issues from a young age. The British used sport to transfer their social values. But along with that, systemic racism and sexism became part of the DNA of sports.

How has your experience informed how you view social justice movements and their impact on sport?

My experience is not one that I could legitimately say is one divided by race. My best friend to this day is Ian Kalloo. So I know Ian and James Camacho – a Portuguese and an Indian from Curepe. Some of my best clients are Indo-Trinidadian.

For me the issue in TT has more to do with class than race. You come from John John you’ll be looked at differently.

The way society views women – you have sexism. I am a big advocate for gender equality. My mother is my hero. I was brought up by women and I’ve always been blessed with strong independent women. I grew up in a community where the glue is the women.

All the men are, and about, saga boys. Women bear the brunt of it. But you can shape the narrative. I’ve said the next president (of TTOC) should be a woman.

You describe yourself as an activist. But for some time now you have been part of “the establishment.” What do you say to people who would criticise your role amid the establishment?

This is a purely voluntary position. But I see how it’s easy for people to develop a chip on their shoulder.

When I was younger, my pet peeve, I used to get angry (and think), 'All of them have fathers. Why not me?'

The way you manifested and dealt with those insecurities was by being aggressive – you hid behind this façade made worse by peer pressure. It then becomes easy to rationalise choices instead of changing.

Don’t blame anybody. Take responsibility.

Sport became a surrogate father to me. From the beginning I thought that if I ever had the opportunity, I would use sport to make a difference. Sport is going to be my way to pay forward. Socially, economically: dream big and fail if you must. There’s no disgrace in failure.

What has covid19 exposed?

Covid19 has unmasked us, even as we must wear our masks. It is the great equaliser. You have to lie down in Caura like everybody else. The obstacle is that the State is still constructed along similar lines to the plantation model – that’s why we must privatise and improve access for our people. What I call the "grassroots," those opportunities are being missed.

We’re addicted to “buy low and sell high.”

They’re dumping the same imports which killed coconuts, coffee, and have stifled creative industries.

There’s no value for innovation and creativity. Look how we have treated creativity. Instead we thrive on conformity. Things that reflect society and its passion are buried. Sport is a $600 billion industry globally but we don’t recognise that potential here.

What we have done is marginalised people and put them in a box that diminishes passion. Under pressure you revert to type. Every entrepreneurial activity has risk but there is reluctance to back projects in sport – from merchandise to gyms.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are complacent and making money out of the existing system.

But the genie is out of the bottle. When we’re under pressure we are creative.

How can we develop the sports industry?

When we set out to gain ten or more gold medals it was also a challenge to inspire the whole ecosystem to explore new ways to monetise sports. I’ve pushed the partnership between TTOC and the University of TT because we should have, for example, sports and exercise apps. Where are the sports drinks being made from tamarind?

We have over-invested in infrastructure, but a sports sector is deeper than that. We need software, and research on nutrition and heat on athletic performance. We could be a great winter training base.

Do you know what stopped that before? International teams were ready to set up bases, but our health facilities didn’t meet their standards. But that’s also an opportunity – we can develop and market proper orthopaedic care.

It starts with the statistics and data collection, which we don’t have. What is the real economic impact of sports? We need to start with market research.

The first customer has to be myself. I’m not that unique.

Dean Ackin (of the Tribe Carnival entertainment group) took what he wanted to see personally as a Carnival player and scaled it up. Every child must play. We need a sport venture to fund that, target entrepreneurs. We need televisits and drugs development.

Is the management structure of sport keeping us back?

Everybody’s focusing on FIFA and its organisational mechanics and forgetting completely about the big picture (of how we will innovate and develop a sports industry).

There are legitimate challenges about waste and mismanagement that we need to resolve but this is also to some extent a distraction. R&D and innovation aren’t talked about enough because we are limited by our vision of diversification. Think 50 years down the road.

What lessons can sports teach us? What advice do you have to entrepreneurs and aspiring athletes?

I’ve always been a rugby man and that taught me to bounce back quickly. It’s different from football, where you might win 2-1 and have a base for the next match. With rugby you’re starting from scratch.

Sports teaches you resilience.

If we don’t wake up, some sports are not going to survive. In a life-or-death situation sports administrators should focus on opportunities instead of spending time protesting health restrictions. How can I rebrand my sport to become part of saving lives and keeping people healthy?

It is time to change the narrative. Track and field, for example, will do well emerging from covid19 as people can still train – so sports can pivot more towards individuals.

Things like penalties teach you lessons: you can’t spend 99 per cent of your time worrying about something that will impact you one per cent.

Ask "why" a lot. Think critically. As Naipaul said, we’ve been mimic men for too long.

Sport is a microcosm, a mirror image of society. This is a defining moment. There is no “how it used to be.” Everybody wants an exception but where is the sense of personal responsibility and sacrifice? Ego is detrimental to the collective good.

But we need strategic positivity. This existential threat requires revolution, not evolution.

Focus on solutions. I try not to get distracted. Sport is a tool for development like any other. It is not a depleting asset like oil and energy.

The wealth of the people is health. Believe in yourself. In the people of your country.

Kiran Mathur Mohammed is a social entrepreneur, economist and businessman. He is a former banker, and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh

Kiran Mathur Mohammed

kmmpub@gmail.com

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TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis has called on sports administrators to sacrifice some of their privileges and redirect their interests toward a more athlete-centred approach.

Lewis made these comments during Thursday’s online talk show Coffee Talks which was held by Cartan Global – a world-renowned organisation in the sports and hospitality industry.

The Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) president highlighted that many athletes who strive to reach the Olympic podium sacrifice their careers, health, family and friends.

While he commended sports administrators on their many works preparing athletes behind-the-scenes, Lewis believes some of their unnecessary perks and gratuities should be shifted towards helping athletes – “the real workers” – reach their full potential.

“We don’t address the fact that the pursuit of the Olympic dream and Olympic podium dream consigns many athletes to poverty. If they want to aspire to make the podium they can no longer do it recreationally.

“Why must athletes do this for free, sacrifice everything, while sports administrators and leaders stay at five-star hotels and get per diems? This was one of the reasons I created the Athlete Medal Bonus for our Olympic podium placing athletes,” he said.

In 2015, the TTOC head introduced a ‘cash for medals’ initiative which started at the Pan American Games that year. This medal bonus was implemented to encourage local athletes to raise their game and have an additional incentive to perform at their best ability.

The incentive is part of the ‘10 Olympic Golds by 2024 initiative’ and serves as a signal to the athlete that the TTOC is serious about creating a high-performance environment for athletes to succeed.

“These are the things we need to look at. Maybe we need to sacrifice some of the privileges and lifestyle of sport administrators. We can use the savings to afford our athletes, especially those who excel by virtue of the podium, be afforded some sort of financial dignity,” he added.

Since his introduction into sports administration in the early 90s, Lewis has always been actively involved in executing several athlete-centred initiatives.

Now in his final year at the helm of the TTOC, the former TT Rugby Football Union public relations officer continues to advocate about gender equality, gender-based violence and racial and social discrimination.

He also launched the Future is Female campaign which highlights the importance of allowing women more seats at the decision-making table to carry sport forward.

Lewis revealed that he grew up without a father and was surrounded by women who bore the brunt of society’s injustices to simply get by.

After serving several years serving as TTOC general secretary, Lewis was elected president in 2013. He concludes his eight-year, two-term reign at the close of the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

“Part of my vision I articulated was a transformative one. It was built on three pillars; being market-oriented, market centred and athlete-centred and I also focused on good governance. It also entailed gender equality and gender equity.

“I have tremendous respect for women and what they can do. Their resilience and how resolute they are.

“I saw my mother make do and bring up four children and turned whatever little she may have had into a positive,” he added.

During his ongoing tenure, Lewis made a deliberate and intentional effort to make the TTOC gender equal. When he arrived, there were just three women serving on the national Olympic committee (NOC). To date, there’s 11 serving in crucial roles.

He has been very vocal that the next TTOC, CANOC, Panam Sports, International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidents should be female, although subject to the democratic process.

Since the inception of these fraternities, a female has never been at the helm. According to Lewis, there’s a glaring omission.

“There are pros and cons in everything. But I generally believe that if you have more women at the decision-making table of global sport, you would have less controversy. It’s a symptom.

“It goes back to sexism, racism and institutionalised discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

“It goes back to the very origins of European dominance in the world. Of which sport is also the part of,” he continued.

Lewis concluded, “While the IOC has done a lot of work with gender equality n the field of play with the athlete, and while they have made progress in the boardroom, there is still a lot of work to be done. There is no room for complacency. The sporting world has been an old boys club and the succession planning pipeline is full of men.

“Because of the patriarchy that surrounds sport for centuries, being old male and white. There is need also for men. It can’t be a woman only battle. Men in the Olympic Movement must be sincere and genuine in supporting and advocating that vision. It may mean that some men will have to make a decision to push forward women on merit.”

Source

IMF: Pandemic impacted Latin America, Caribbean the hardest...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday that the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has hit Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) harder than other parts of the world, both in human and economic terms.

In its latest outlook for the LAC, the IMF said the relatively large human toll is evident...

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Discover T&T

An original article from Discover T&T: https://www.discovertnt.com

Central to understanding much of the Trinidadian psyche is to understand the festival culture of the island. And no festival is greater than the Trinidad Carnival. The dynamism of the festival has sparked its reproduction throughout the rest of the Caribbean island chain, and as far away as Toronto, New York, Miami and Notting Hill. But everyone knows that Trinidad is the “mother of all West Indian carnivals”, which attracts visitors from all over the world, including international celebrities like Halle Berry. Its roots are here

Discover Trinidad & Tobago and Caroline Taylor on 22 October, 2013 (last updated 29 April, 2018)

Read more here: https://www.discovertnt.com

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