Cricket and football are our national sports and obviously have the greatest participation of players and spectators. Bermudians are, consequently, very passionate about these two sports. When they think that the National Teams are not living up to expectations, their passion and support could very quickly turn into criticism and even ridicule. It is not unusual to criticise what we perceive as failure. I believe that our national teams do extremely well for the small population pool that we have to select from compared to much larger countries with whom we compete.

To obtain sufficiently skilled and available males particularly in cricket and football in the average age range of 20-30 for our national teams is a major achievement in itself.

The talent pool from which to draw our players can be viewed in the context of our vital statistics*:

Population (Year 2000) 62,059

Number of births per year 830

(Crude birth rate 13.1 - Year 2005)

80% Bermudian Born (80% of 830) 664

(Estimate)

48% of births are male (48% of 664) 318

61% Black male (61% of 318) 195

* (Source: Department of Statistics . Facts & Figures 2008)

From this extrapolated number we arrive at approximately 2000 (195 per year over a ten-year period).

We must then deduct persons:

¦ Pursuing further education

¦ Physically challenged & injured

¦ Pursuing interests in other sports

¦ Not athletically inclined

Thus the number of young men available to play cricket and football would be dramatically reduced both on an annual and aggregate 10-year period.

We are fortunate that we live in a country where the Government and the private sector give generous support to sport. We in our small, successful society with very high expectations assume that we should be able to compete and perform like a country with a far greater talent pool from which to draw and in some instances, whose players see their talent as a means to escape either poverty or adverse conditions.

As many of us will recall, the West Indies test cricket team were highly successful in past years due to the exceptional talent available from the various islands. This allowed them to play and succeed as cricket was seen as the prime source of opportunity in the area of sport. As the islands became more prosperous and less agricultural this led to greater opportunities in other areas both locally and internationally. The Cricket Team became less successful on an international basis and has only recently had a revival.

We must remember that our players have responsibilities such as continuing education, jobs, social activities, family and sport commitments to their local clubs, and on an international basis, to the country as a whole. The public's expectations are high but statistics have shown that the talent pool is small and continues to diminish due to a lower birth rate. Therefore, more is expected from fewer and disappointment becomes a more dominant factor. I suspect that players often become very frustrated and act out their frustrations on and off the field when they anticipate criticism from home because of not being able to produce results acceptable to the Bermudian public. We should ask and expect our national players to give the best that they can give and praise them when they fully participate whether they win or lose.

Cricket and football are team sports and a team is only as strong as its weakest player. Team sport is a good metaphor for life. A team is a group of individuals who work well together and an individual should not be concerned with his own glory. Players should be encouraged to be the best they can on and off the field so that our young people can view them as role models and heroes. The players today just might be the foundation for the winners of tomorrow.

To reiterate, the pool of young men to choose our national cricket and football teams from is extremely small. However small it is, we should choose the players that are prepared to represent our country to the best of their abilities, commitment and deportment. This might well result in not choosing the best players.

The Regulatory bodies, coaches, officials and players are commended for their dedication and hard work to the sports. We should encourage the Bermudian public to view success by genuine effort, representation and commitment and not always by victory.