One of the most effective – and least expensive – ways to improve Cayman’s performance in international team competitions is for our sports to begin sharing the wealth with each other.
There is not enough cross-over play by athletes and not enough cross-over instruction by coaches.
It is time to think of one Cayman Islands sports community rather than several independent sports fiefdoms. Because of our small population of less than 60,000, the greatest challenge in fielding competitive teams is to find a sufficient number of quality athletes to fill the rosters.
Given this problem, coaches must have a different mindset from coaches who work in large countries. They must look beyond the borders of their particular sport and they must openly accept talent from wherever it comes. It is understandable that coaches may want to guard their stars and keep them focused solely on their sport.
But this is shortsighted.
Sharing athletes is not only about sacrifice. It’s a two-way street. By opening up the talent pool to all, every coach will have more to work with. Every coach can build better teams.
Cricket and baseball, for example, are games with much in common. No, a great baseball player will not necessarily be a great cricketer but the required skills for each game are close enough to allow for talent sharing. There is no logical reason that an outstanding athlete cannot represent Cayman in both sports. Currently our bat-and-ball talent is split with no significant cross-over play.
Rugby and flag football are ideal sports for talent sharing and it already happens. Flag football has enjoyed a rapid rise to popularity and respect in the Cayman Islands.
It’s no coincidence that one of the league’s founders and a star player, Marcus Cumber, is a veteran of the Cayman Islands national rugby team. The two sports compliment each other and it is logical that there should be a close relationship between them. The common skills of ball-carrying and eluding tacklers makes these sports natural partners and they should share the talent pool.
Any observer who is knowledgeable about track and field can see that our domestic football leagues have several players who likely would make outstanding middle-distance and distance runners for our national track team.
Coaches who cling to their athletes and discourage or forbid crossing over to other sports may be holding on to a luxury we cannot afford.
At the very least coaches and association presidents should investigate the possibility of shared training sessions. By sharing costs with one another, the sports various associations can get much more mileage from their tight budgets.
We are a small country with a severely limited talent pool to build teams from. If we want to improve out results in international competitions, this fact must drive us toward higher levels of cooperation, especially at the junior level. If we train together and play together, all sports are likely to raise their game.
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