First term school sports are heading for a big finish, but the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports (MYDS) is trying to figure out how to raise the standard and volume of participation, as well as consistency of coaching. Competition is wrapping up in team sports in the second week of November, well ahead of end-of-term exams, with the national road races still to come.
Broadly speaking, school sports coordinator Isabel Alexander-Marquis told St. Lucia Times she is pleased with the term’s activities.
“I think everything has been going well so far,” she said during the Under-19 boys’ basketball semifinals. “All in all, I can say that we have not had much of a glitch. The fact that we have brought basketball and netball to the Beausejour Indoor Facility has made the tournament go according to schedule. So we were not affected by the rains.”
Though some disruption was experienced during the week of the Jounen Kwéyòl festivities, games are back on schedule.
A fly in the ointment, though, is the level of participation, which had already been trending downwards in some sports even pre-COVID. Two of the three main team sports, netball and basketball, have just about half of the island’s 24 secondary schools involved. Only football, with 19 teams in Under-16 boys’ competition, and an impressive 21 in the Under-19 boys’ tournament, has been able to buck the trend.
“There can always be more participation from other schools,” noted Alexander-Marquis, acknowledging that many students are already involved in various programmes across the island. She pointed to staffing gaps, especially the absence of dedicated coaches and limited teacher availability, as key barriers to forming full teams. Some educators, she added, may not feel confident in the sport, while PE teachers often juggle multiple responsibilities.
In basketball, which ended up with 12 teams, the sports coordinator pointed out that Patricia D. James Secondary had withdrawn from this year’s competition, after placing third in 2024. On the flip side of the coin, Corinth Secondary returned after a lengthy absence. They were also represented in netball, which also welcomed the revival of the Sir Ira Simmons Secondary School. But MYDS netball coordinator Shem Maxwell isn’t satisfied.
“We could do a little better than that. We need more schools to participate,” Maxwell said. “We need to get our schools more involved in the court games, get coaches on board, hire persons to help the schools out. We need something to be done, because the few coaches we have at the ministry, the manpower is not sufficient.”
Alexander-Marquis acknowledged that while having a dedicated coach for each sporting discipline in every education district would be ideal, financial constraints make it unfeasible. She noted that volunteerism has waned, and with rising temperatures, fewer people are willing to spend long hours outdoors, leaving schools with a staffing gap that’s hard to fill.
Also a member of the executive of Netball Saint Lucia and a former national captain, Maxwell issued a reminder to players, potential players, parents, and teachers that the four ministry coaches continue facilitating community weekend programmes at venues including Soufriere/Fond St Jacques, Blanchard in Desruisseaux, and the Vigie Sports Complex. The focus there is mainly on the Under-16 players, who have the opportunity to compete at the Jean Pierre Caribbean Championships.
Maxwell and Alexander-Marquis shared the opinion that the quality of play has improved this year, as compared to the past two iterations of these competitions. There have been more competitive games, fewer lopsided blowouts, and more consistent progression from the lower age brackets to the varsity. Here, too, there is room for improvement.
“As anything else, as the tournament progresses, you can see that the teams have developed, they have improved on their play,” Alexander-Marquis said. “And I think that is what is lacking most of the time when we come to the school tournaments. There is not enough play time before the tournament.”
Alexander-Marquis placed the responsibility for improving the quality of play squarely on the schools. She urged institutions to establish alumni organisations or lean on graduates for financial and coaching support. Addressing key factors like transportation, nutrition and community backing, she added, could significantly boost the success of both school-level and national sports programmes.
