Whether you love sports, play sports or have absolutely no interest in sports, the recent performances of some of our federation's young sports stalwarts have proven to be more than a glimmer of hope for our youths and ultimately our twin island nation.
From the netball court to the football field, euphoria and national pride rose to an all time high. We were taken to a surreal place - if only for a moment - by our "sports savvy" youth who executed their responsibilities as sports ambassadors in top form, securing their place in the annals of history.
After witnessing the dominance of our young netballers in the recently concluded netball tournament, as well as the stellar performance of the Under 23 footballers, who literally turned the lights out on Haiti to secure a qualifying spot in the world Olympics next year, one cannot deny the prowess and presence we have in youth sports. Such presents us with great hope for our future.
As we await our students' results from this year's overseas exams, our expectations are that we will see marked improvement in the overall performances of students and schools as a whole.
We have also proven our dominance in pageantry.
Our reigning Miss St. Kitts Queen, Iantavian Queeley (decked out with a slew of academic accolades herself) "cleaned up" every category in the recently held Miss Carival Queen Pageant in St. Vincent. If this victory was not proof enough of her multi-talent, she again rose to the occasion on Friday July 29 to cleanly sweep the Antigua Jaycees Queen Pageant competition from an array of 15 contestants. Certainly, Ms. Queeley has proven to be a high achiever, whose grace, poise, charm, beauty, intellect and down to earth personality superseded the skills of her competitors.
Much of Queeley's success is as a result of her hard work, confidence and that of her humble spirited and creative young chaperon, Ms. Ozelle Martin and the entire cast of supporters who walked with her throughout her journey.
The success of many of our young people, on and off stage, in the scoring box and on the soccer field, is rich with a major ingredient: "people". They're success is sparked by a village of supporters that includes parents, teachers, guidance counselors, the Church, social groups, friends and acquaintances, eager to assist them in any undertaking.
Ask every last one of our successful young people and you will learn of their ties to someone or something positive. Be it the renowned Dr. Garfield Alexander, singing sensation Queen Anastasia, prospective lawyer Azard Gumbs, Community Activist and Social worker Azilla Clark or successful footballer Atiba Harris, irrespective of any negative forces with which they have had to contend, they draw from a pool of positive reinforcement to keep them grounded.
Infamus sings about his mother as his beloved source of strength, wisdom and guidance. Nicha B. has a colossal fan base among his family members alone, encouraging and cheering him along. Throughout the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis are hundreds of young people whose positive spirit, energy and hard work in our communities far outweighs the crazed youths who kill "matter of factly" and make the 6:00 pm news doing so.
When so much ill has been spouted about our young people in recent times, isn't it refreshing to hear of Ms. Queeley's accomplishments, as well as those of her successful colleagues? They are the pillars of our nation's success on which all young people can stand. They are some of our nation's most valuable treasures.
If gangs and street culture appeals more to young lives, will adults watch nonchalantly as this vile invasion dictates the future of our federation? Will we not fight for and take back the only promise we have for the future of our twin isles? We ought to recognize the good in our young men and women so that positive involvement becomes what our next generation aspires to, rather than guns, gangs, too many gunmen and too many gangsters.
Maybe John Wooden said it best: “Young people need models, not critics”.
From the farmer to the Prime Minister, adults must do more than chastise our youths by leading exemplary lives for them to emulate.
Let's encourage our youths, salute their achievements, and recommit to upholding our nation’s motto; Country Above Self.
We have an entire nation to build and a country of young people to mold.
Congratulations to Iantavian, her chaperon Ozelle Martin, our Under 23 netballers and footballers and all of our promising youths.
