Sport is a way to explore life's big issues.

Break­ing down bound­aries through sport. There is not a more powerful vehicle to promote T&T overseas and develop deeper ties. There are unprecedented opportunities for collaboration. Team T&T can be a mirror reflection of T&T's tradition of embracing diversity, equality and inclusivity.

The twin is and Republic's diversity has been a key feature of T&T culture. T&T sport has demonstrated great resilience in assimilating diversity, which itself has become a distinctive characteristic of what T&T culture is today.

Team T&T serves as a platform for international cultural exchange. In this regard, T&T should make efforts to improve on the use of sport as a critical success factor in the development of a strategic effort to position brand T&T globally.

Heeding criticism is not only a virtue but also shrewd. The importance of mutual respect and trust cannot be taken for granted.

There is an emotional attachment to the country that people, the world over, display via support for their national teams.

Certain developments in recent weeks beg the question, when will T&T sport get our act together? What will drive improvement in the administration and management of sport? Are we not fed up of being swamped by conflict?

The deterioration must be seen as an obstacle to T&T seizing the historical opportunities that sport provides.

There is friction and tension as national sport organisations have had their funding cut. They are struggling to fund the basics. It is a sorry state of affairs as opportunities for the next generation of sportsmen and sportswomen are being cur­tailed. There is shortsighted decision making taking place within national sport organisations.

How can T&T sport nav­i­gate an unpredictable future? Firstly, have a vision. We need to be able to imagine our future completely different from what we know now. If we cannot, we must surround ourselves with people more imaginative than we are. We cannot just adapt to change as it happens. The world is changing so fast that when we notice the change it is way too late.

If we do not have a vision that stretches beyond what we can see today, we cannot make strategic decisions. At best, we can make tactical decisions. Another essential skill set is we need to be able to interpret trends correctly. This is the dilemma facing every sports administrator - how do we create the best solu­tions for T&T sport?

Sport is a gateway to the T&T way of life. A small island nation with a large legacy. Success is at our fingertips. We can write our story.

As we are at the midpoint of the year it's important to reflect and do some deep thinking on where we are at and what's still to come.

Editor’s Note:

Brian Lewis is the president of the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) and T&T Commonwealth Games Association (TTC­GA) and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the organisations.

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