Tony BeccaTHE Carreras Sports Foundation's Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award for 2002 was held at the Pegasus Hotel on Thursday night, and congratulations to all the sportsmen and sportswomen, including administrators and officials, who were serenaded as the country's best during the year.
According to the consensus, it was once again a lovely affair, and on a night to remember, the selections of Michael Blackwood and Brigitte Foster as the sportsman and sportswoman of the year were greeted with cheers of approval; and so too those of Steve Bucknor and Dr. Vin Lawrence as joint winners of the Chairman's Award - one for his outstanding performance as a Test umpire, and one for his successful organisation of the World Junior Games.
It was also a night of two good presentations - one by guest speaker Charmaine Crooks and one Terry Young Sing.
In an eloquent speech during which she commented on the wonderful achievements of Jamaica's athletes, on their greatness, on the opportunities that await them, on the influence they have in the society, and on how they should prepare themselves to use that influence, the Jamaican-born Crooks, a member of Canada's 4x400 team that won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games and a member of the International Olympic Committee, was good - really good.
The message of the evening, however, came from Terry Young Sing.
Chairman of Trinidad and Tobago's WITCO Sports Foundation - the foundation that organises the twin republic's Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards, Young Sing proposed an annual Caribbean Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award.
According to the Trinidadian, such awards would bring the region closer together, and with the present emphasis on Caribbean unity, it should be seriously considered.
Back in 1998, CARICOM celebrated its 25th anniversary by recognising 25 people for their outstanding contribution to sport in different areas during the period, and it was well received by those so recognised.
It was so well received that at the presentation ceremony in St. Lucia, Clyde Walcott, the great cricketer, former president of the West Indies Cricket Board, former president of the International Cricket Council, and one who had received many awards from his native Barbados, said that nothing before had pleased him so much.
Replying on behalf of the recipients, Walcott said that to be honoured by one's country is one thing - to be recognised by the region is something else. To him, the CARICOM Award was something special.
In an effort to start the ball rolling, Terry Young Sing has suggested that the WITCO Foundation and the Carreras Foundation get together and start the move, WITCO's awards will be held on March 10 in Port of Spain, Dr. Alfred Sangster, chairman of the Carreras Sports Foundation, has been invited to attend, and he has agreed to do so.
A Caribbean Sports Award would be good for regional sport, it would be good for Caribbean unity, and every effort should be made to make it a reality as quickly as possible.
In thinking about it, it would be good to remember the Trinidadian's final words on Thursday night. "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success."
