As I stood and watched the Royal Queen pass by Whitney it made me think about Bermuda and our national pride.

Do we as a country have national pride? Looking in The Royal Gazette this week I saw masses of people lining the streets for our Queen, showing her the respect that she is due.

However, as I listened around the country to various people there were mixed feelings about her visit.

I have come to the conclusion that we as a country are afraid of being proud of our heritage, we simply just want to pick and choose what we want to have national pride about. Do we as a country have our own identity?

Many of us support the Queen while many boldly say, "she is not my Queen." Are you serious?

This same group of people stood in long lines at the immigration department to make sure that they got their British passport.

So the question is, do we only have pride when it benefits us?

Let's take a quick look at some other countries and the different ways that they show national pride. USA, for example – it is an honour for them to join the army or marines and many do it voluntarily.

You don't have to force people to honour their war veterans, fallen soldiers, or those that are currently serving.

Having Thanksgiving dinner for many of us is just a good meal, but just ask any American why it's important, guaranteed you would get the history behind it. They even show their pride in their sports.

Just look at how they react to the Super Bowl, World Series, and the Olympics, to name a few, and as soon as they know that the anthem is about to play, the whole place is silent, including the television audiences. There is no disrespect - you could hear a pin drop.

Jamaica is another country that knows what national pride is all about.

You can bet your boots that if Jamaica is playing football, cricket etc. or one of their athletes are participating in any sport the Jamaicans will be there in their black, green and yellow supporting their own - rain, blow or shine.

In comparison, here in Bermuda we have Cup Match which recently has been poorly attended by many while it is supposed to be a two-day holiday for a major part of our history, and it's our national sport.

Also, many young men around Bermuda cannot see the importance of joining the army and giving back to their country. They would rather risk going to jail then to serve their country. Unreal.

What is it about us as a country, what do we want? What will bring us back together? Is there an answer?

I have to wonder do we even know what national pride means or stands for. Teams leave here to represent Bermuda and embarrass the country.

Players do not realise that playing for your country is an honour and a privilege that not every athlete is privy to.

Several players around the world would love to and would give anything to play for their country, but they simply are just not good enough.

Yet we in Bermuda cannot see the importance.

It wasn't until just a few years ago that all sporting bodies came under the same umbrella with the same colour tracksuits.

Some teams used to travel in red and blue, while others left here in green and gold.

Little things like this tell a whole story about where we are as a country.

Bermuda our country right now is out in the wilderness whether we want to believe it or not.

I asked a kid just the other day do you know who Clarence Parfitt is and he replied, "No". From that I asked them about four or five different past great athletes and the kid knew nothing about them.

Why is that? How do we allow our great athletes who were exceptional to fade away when their memories should last forever?

We should be teaching our kids about our national heroes so they too can try to be like them. Pictures of our Hall of Famers should be posted in all of the schools.

Kids should be learning about Bermuda history, thus doing projects on Bermuda which will encourage Bermuda pride.

When a player goes to play or represent Bermuda they should be going from club level to another level of professionalism.

The standard at country level should be exceptional and stringent.

If a player steps on the field of play for his/her country they should know what they represent. Our country is confused and we do not know where we want to go.

Look at the political scene. You have politicians leaving one party to join another.

Then we have politicians leaving a party to form their own. The country reeks of confusion. Where is our direction?

Bermuda national pride does not just lie in sportsmen, it lies in every individual that is Bermudian.

When someone asks you where you come from you should be able to look them in the eyes and say Bermuda loud and proud.

It is our jobs as parents, educators, and coaches to instill national pride into our kids.

Bermuda, to emphasise my point about national pride, I ask you this, "What is our national song"? Do our kids know what our national song is? My point exactly!

We all as a country should know the national song just like we know the Lord's prayer, but we don't.

Motto for the week: Pride is a personal commitment.

It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity."