And Still I Rise

Whilst growing up,there was this ad used around football time that always caught my attention. It went something like this "From a stadium in Surinam,St Vincent shows the football world that it is not the size of the country but the quality of the team work that counts". I would later learn that this was in response to SVG's wonderful showing in what was probably its first outing on the regional football scene.

Back then in 1979, Team SVG astounded the major teams with its footballing skills to place second in the regional tourney. I am told that in the final four they only lost to Haiti who I guess were eventual winners. Since then Vincy football has had an up and down ride performing creditably(brilliantly even)at times and others well the less said the better.

This time the year is 2009 and the Vincy under 20 team is bent on making a name for itself. Their ultimate goal is getting to Cairo for the under 20 World Cup but first they must qualify for the Concacaf final in Trinidad. Thus far, by knocking off the Dominican Republic and the highly fancied Haitians, Team Vincy has once more proved that size is nothing compared to its skill. It is even sweeter given that they are playing the Caribbean Zone finals in Kingstown.

As I write,Team SVG who heads the table will play Jamaica in the final game. Hopefully, this time around we won't be second best but whatever the result" And Still I Rise" salutes the real Vincy Heat for reminding us what SVG is capable of if only we could get it together.