Football and cricket took another unnecessary pounding in the Gazette today for the size of their Government grants.
‘They didn’t get $15m like the BFA or $11m like the BCB, but Bermuda’s athletes have continued to defy the odds’ crowed the RG’s headline before going on to trumpet the acheivements of swimmers, sailors and Bermuda’s golf team at the Island Games.
Aside from the fact that pure success on the field is a poor barometer of funding requirements (The BFA for example supports 19 clubs, many with a membership exceeding that of the swimming association), the daily is applying a wholly different criteria for success in ‘other sports’.
Imagine if the national cricket team competed against the Faroe Islands, Menorca and Shetland and picked up a bronze. It wouldn’t be considered ‘glory’ would it?
Our cricketers may not have stood out in South Africa earlier this year but they are still competing at a higher level internationally than any other local sports team, with the possible exception of our individual Olympians.
There is a double-standard at work here. For our cricketers to be considered a success they have to be holding their own against India and Sri Lanka.
They were widely ridiculed for losing to Afghanistan – a nation of 32 million people, where cricket is emerging as a national sport.
Sports like sailing, which enjoys huge financial support from the private sector, and golf, which is a profit making industry in Bermuda, simply have to negotiate Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
It's like comparing apples and oranges.
It’s great that some of our athletes are enjoying success at the Island Games – a wonderful event that allows us to compete on a level playing field by restricting entry to countries with populations of 125,000 or less.
But why does any recognition of their success have to come with a snide dig at our national sports?
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