Go Lean…Caribbean

Go Lean Commentary

Soccer (Association Football) is the world’s most popular game. The book Go Lean … Caribbean contemplates greater exploration of the economic opportunities associated with the business of sports – the Caribbean has a failing record in this important area. This quest must therefore give consideration to the eco-system of the World Cup. As such, the news story in the foregoing article synchronizes with the Go Lean book in that it depicts the societal abandonment by so many Caribbean athletes and the lack of professional opportunities in the Caribbean homeland. The two issues: lack of opportunities and society abandonment is a cause-and-effect conundrum. See article here:

Caribbean Journal – Caribbean e-Zine Online Site (Posted 06/14/2014; retrieved 06/21/2014) –
http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/06/16/caribbean-players-in-the-2014-world-cup/
There aren’t any teams from the traditional Caribbean in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (although there are several from the wider Caribbean Basin), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a strong Caribbean contingent. From powerhouses like the Netherlands and England to up-and-coming teams like Costa Rica, there are a number of Caribbean footballers in Brazil this month. Here are some of the featured Caribbean athletes:

Raheem Sterling

The 19-year-old phenom who plays for England was actually born in Kingston, Jamaica. A midfielder, he plays professionally for Liverpool.

Raphael Varane

, Varane who plays professionally for Real Madrid, is a centre back for the French World Cup team. He is of Martiniquais heritage, as his father comes from the island.

Daniel Sturridge

The England striker is of Jamaican heritage, as both sides of his grandparents are Jamaican. Like Sterling, he plays for Liverpool professionally. (And he keeps up his ties to Jamaica with a charity in Portmore).

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Oxlade-Chamberlain, the son of former England international player Mark Chamberlain, is of Jamaican heritage. A winger and central midfielder, he plays professionally for Arsenal.

Jean Beausejour

Beausejour, a 30-year-old left winger for Chile, is the son of a Haitian father. He plays professionally for Wigan Athletic in England.

Nigel de Jong

Much of the Netherlands’ football success over the years has come from the Caribbean nation of Suriname, and the trend continues today. de Jong, of Surinamese heritage, is a defensive midfielder who plays professionally for Milan.

Jeremain Lens

Lens, a striker, is of Surinamese heritage (and has even played internationally for the country). He plays professionally for FC Dyanmo Kyiv.

Georginio Wijnaldum

Wijnald is of Surinamese heritage, and plays for professionally for PSV in the Netherlands. For Oranje, he’s a midfielder.

Leroy Fer

The Norwich City player is a central midfielder who plays for (and was born in) the Netherlands. His roots, however, come from Curacao, where he comes from a family of sporting talents.

Jozy Altidore

The Haitian-American Altidore is one of the leaders of the American World Cup squad. A striker by trade, he plays professionally for Sunderland.

Chris Smalling

Smalling, of Jamaican heritage, is a centre back for England who plays professionally for Manchester United.

Patrick Pemberton

Costa Rica has a Caribbean coastline, and it’s an area with a distinct heritage and culture in large part due to an influx of immigration from Caribbean countries like Jamaica in the 19^th [and early 20^th century for the construction of the Panama Canal]. One result [has been] last names like Pemberton in a Spanish-speaking country. Patrick Pemberton, a native of Puerto Limon, and is the lead goalie for the Costa Rican World Cup side, playing professionally for LD Alajuelense.

Marvin Chavez

The winger Chavez is part of a group of Garifuna players on the Honduran side, those who live on the Caribbean coast of the country — indeed, almost half of the team is comprised of those of Garifuna heritage. Chavez plays professionally in Chivas USA in MLS.

David Myrie

David Myrie, a defender for the Costa Rican team, hails from the Caribbean area of Puerto Viejo. He plays professionally for the Costa Rican side Herediano.

Loic Remy

The 27-year-old native of Lyon is of Martiniquais heritage and plays for France. Professionally, the striker plays for Queens Park Rangers in England.

Jonathan de Guzman

The midfielder for the Netherlands is the son of a Jamaican mother. He plays professionally for Swansea City, on loan from Spain’s Villareal.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government to administer and optimize the economic/security/ governing engines of the region’s 30 member-states. At the outset, the roadmap recognizes the value of sports with these statements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 & 14):

xxi.     Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxxi.     Whereas sports have been a source of great pride for the Caribbean region, the economic returns from these ventures have not been evenly distributed as in other societies. The Federation must therefore facilitate the eco-systems and vertical industries of sports as a business, recreation, national pastime and even sports tourism – modeling the Olympics.

The Go Lean roadmap posits that sport genius qualifiers are found throughout Caribbean society. With the planned market organizations of this roadmap, sports can be more lucrative for Caribbean residents, Diaspora and their legacies. This is big business! There is money to be made in sports endeavors like the World Cup, as stated here:

World Cup Brazil will generate $4 billion in total revenue for FIFA, or 66% more than the previous tournament in South Africa in 2010. The vast majority of the money will come from the sale of television and marketing rights. The World Cup generates more revenue for its association than any other sports tournament, save the Olympics. – Source: Forbes Magazine; retrieved June 5, 2014 from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2014/06/05/the-billion-dollar-business-of-the-world-cup/

This subject of sports and World Cup Soccer relates to many previous Go Lean blogs; highlighted here in the following samples, including tangential issues like societal abandonment/brain drain and Caribbean image:

The Caribbean already competes on the world stage, in all other aspects of life. But for the World Cup it is unfortunate that we have to compete with teams aligned to other countries, as shown in the foregoing article.

While it’s too late for this year, perhaps in the near future, at the end of this roadmap, there will be more recognition of the Caribbean contribution to the World Cup. Take the dream one step further and imagine a unified Caribbean team fielding its best athletes in competition with the rest of the world. This is the basic strategy of the CU, to confederate and collaborate as a unified team for sports and most other endeavors. The Go Lean roadmap asserts that no one Caribbean member-state can thrive alone.

Though Go Lean is an economic empowerment agenda, there are huge benefits for the region related to sports: optimization of eco-systems for amateur, intercollegiate and professional engagements. The CU facilitation is straight-forward: to supply the missing elements of the previous generations: applicable venues (stadia, arenas, fields, temporary structures) and broadcast/streaming capabilities.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to forge permanent change by implementing the Five Year roadmap advocated in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The hope is to keep our “star” athletes at home, playing for the home team and home country. Then finally, with the Go Lean executions in place, the Caribbean can become a better place for all citizens to live, work and play.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!