Isn't it time for a redistribution of wealth amongst the sports in Bermuda?

Isn't it time for the money to be taken from the "have hads" and given to the "have nots"?

Isn't it time to look beyond the glamour sports such as cricket and football, and put the majority of the resources available at the disposal of those who truly deserve them?

Isn't it time for change?

Government has a history of rewarding success, so they must do so again. In the past few weeks the Island's athletes and swimmers have taken on the best of the Caribbean and Americas and come away victorious.

A total of 17 medals were won at the Carifta competitions, there were numerous records broken, and a host of personal bests set on the track and in the pool.

These achievements cannot be understated given the role that these sports play on the Island. They are the poor relation, and yet they are filled with sportsmen and women who are succeeding above and beyond all that is reasonable.

Bermuda's athletes operate with adequate facilities at best, and the ones available to the swimmers are no better than sub-standard. Just imagine what they might achieve with some real backing and a proper pool?

Some sections of the sporting community will point to the $15 million put aside for a new aquatic facility at the National Sports Centre and argue that swimming is getting more money than anyone. But this is not just for the athletes, it is for the whole Island. Plans for the pool also show provision for a water slide.

And anyway, given the history behind this project, and the current financial climate, it could be another five years before the pool is actually built.

Swimmers such as Roy-Allen Burch and Keira Aitken made it as far as the Olympics with only cursory support from their own country. Patrick Singleton has been to the Winter Olympics three times, and done much of this single-handedly.

Long jumpers Arantxa King and Tyrone Evans continue to push the limits in their chosen field, and will no doubt do so on the international stage when the time comes to represent their country once more.

The Island's sailors also achieve great success year-in, year-out, and they have had their funding slashed yet again.

In contrast you have a cricket team who have shown themselves to be unworthy of the vast sums of money that have been thrown at them. They were given the best coaches, the best facilities, the best opportunities, and they treated them with contempt.

The laziness and disinterest with which they approached their sport only deserves our contempt in return, and not a single penny more of our money.

Cricket supporters will argue that given the display in South Africa, investment in the national game is more important than ever. But where is the sense in throwing good money after bad?

Until the Island's cricketers can display the desire and commitment necessary to play international cricket, then Bermuda will always be an irrelevance on the world stage.

They must once again earn what many believe to be their right. Until that time, let's give the money to the people who have earned it, and who might achieve even greater things with a little more support.

n What are your thoughts? Please email jball@royalgazette.bm.