Hurricane Ivan’s devastating visit three years ago was a cruel blow to the people of Grand Cayman. Many homes and businesses were left in shambles, plant life was left brown, and-most significantly-numerous people were traumatized.
In the weeks and months following Ivan’s impact, social life was uncomfortable, strange and filled with difficult challenges. Sports, however, helped some cope just a little better.
A fun run was held and for a brief time many people had something to do other than worry about insurance claims and leaky roofs.
A group of thoughtful people organised and staged a sports day at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex. Athletes, serious and otherwise, showed up and, while no records were broken or meaningful victories earned, there were many smiles.
Best of all, there was a series of football matches in West Bay.
Those games helped breathe life back into that district, according to many who played or watched.
There was just something special about temporarily replacing the annoying sounds of generators and hammers on rooftops with the shouts of strikers trying to beat defenders for a goal.
There was plenty of cheering.
Funny thing, however, is that the cheers seemed less about a game than about a country getting back on its feet.
Sports mattered for many in those challenging post-Ivan days. Hopefully that lesson won’t be forgotten.
Sports can play a vital role in bringing back some sense of normalcy to a shaken population. This was proven in 2004.
Sports, whether a person is participating or just watching, can also serve as a healthy release for stress after a traumatic event like a hurricane, instead of things like alcohol or drugs.
For this reason, we hope that various sports associations and the Sports Ministry will consider making plans to offer sports events available to the public as soon as it is realistically possible after a severe impact of any hurricane.
Obviously sports are far down on the list of priorities for hurricane planning but they can be included somewhere.
Given the significant boost they can deliver to a reeling and hurting population, they should be included.
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