GUYANESE had a long and enjoyable week of cricket after the Caribbean Premier League games. It’s been a long week of fun, tears, excitement, frustration and even relaxation. Our National Stadium at Providence was packed to the brim, and our tourism rates have increased like never before. It’s safe to say that cricket has allowed all of us to put aside our differences for the love and support of our home team. Many of us grew up playing cricket in our neighbourhood and school, and it’s probably one of the very games that we played, which allowed us to understand the importance of teamwork. As I listen to stories of my parents and grandparents, cricket has always been a glue throughout our history. It’s a liked game by most Guyanese.
Yes, I’m a bit biased towards cricket for obvious reasons but it’s also safe to say that many of the other sports played in Guyana have a similar effect on the people of our land. In those moments of anticipation—awaiting to see if the Amazon Warriors would win or lose; we came together in the crowd or behind the televisions in our home and supported our team. In that moment, all of us had a common goal, and it ultimately allowed all of us to achieve a sense of community and togetherness throughout the length and breadth of this country. That’s the version of Guyana that I love. That’s the version of our country that melts my heart. We have many underlying issues and the centre of that is our differences in race and beliefs. It’s important to always acknowledge that we’re all different people and should respect each other regardless of race, creed or gender.
With that mind, we can also recognise the togetherness that comes from sports when played in Guyana. Cricket is our national sport for many Guyanese and is embedded into our culture and history. It reflects the message, “many voices, one message”. Sports can bring together people in ways unimaginable. Total strangers come together together and celebrate and connect just by living in the same country and supporting the same team. As I was reading more on the topic of sports and unity. I came across an interesting article: What does “unity in sports” really mean? Written by Sara Gross. She explained that, “If we can’t find unity while doing simple things like kicking a ball around a field or running to see who is the fastest, then what hope do we have of finding unity in more important tasks like helping impoverished communities, cleaning up our oceans or dealing with climate change?”
She explained it as sports being a microcosm of society. We need to get the lowest stake (agreeing on who hit the ball best on a field) right before aiming for higher ones (how can we help the homeless get off the street?). Sports should be a quick fix to achieving temporary unity because at the end of the day, we still have many underlying issues as a society to work on. However, it still allows for us to work together while having a sense of national pride. It’s just a small block in achieving unity and togetherness, but it’s still a stepping stone to getting there.
