Lima says Gib sports must balance desire for international success with athlete development

As Gibraltar sport looks at moving forward and trying to bring more success in its international efforts, a lively discussion under way over who should be eligible to represent Gibraltar as part of a national team.

Recruiting athletes who may not have direct contact with the local sporting community but nevertheless qualify to represent Gibraltar can bring benefits in the form of some level of international success that can inspire local sports people.

But the concern is that doing so could limit future pathways for local sportspeople and have the opposite effect.

Reagan Lima, CEO of the Gibraltar Sports and Leisure Authority, which oversees sport in Gibraltar, cautioned over what he saw as concerns in the national team selection process which could impact development pathways in sport, although he highlighted that there had been no breaches of the present rules as they stood.

Speaking to this newspaper and asked if he was satisfied with the selection processes being adopted across Gibraltar sport, Mr Lima said he was not.

“If I am honest, no, but I do understand that sometimes we are restricted in numbers,” he said.

“However, in my opinion, we have to safeguard our development programmes and we need to give children and young athletes a pathway.”

“If you block that pathway, you demotivate them and it becomes harder.”

“We have to value development programmes and trust our athletes sometimes a bit more, if I am honest, but it is really more a moral argument than a technical argument because there are very clear guidelines internationally.”

Mr Lima suggested there was a need to review further changes to the eligibility criteria that must be met to represent Gibraltar, with a strategy required that bolsters the scope for success on the international stage while protecting future development pathways.

While sporting bodies' constitutions were “reviewed periodically”, Mr Lima was quick to point out that “some constitutions have been there for 30 or 40 years and were suitable at the time, but things move and things change, particularly in a dynamic industry and environment such as sport.”

“Our sports development unit constantly liaises with the associations,” he added.

The emergence of more individuals aiming to make a career out of sport their become professionals in their respective disciplines, alongside the emergence of elite athletes making themselves available for national team selection in various sports in line with existing rules, has brought the debate on eligibility to the forefront as Gibraltar participates in international events.

With Gibraltar seeking to improve its standing internationally and local sporting bodies themselves admitting that more could be done to better their results, this has added to calls for change.

The balance between winning medals and maintaining development pathways towards future success for local sportspeople is at the core of the debate, primarily whether the benefits of recruiting and selecting eligible candidates to inspire through success outweigh the need to protect future development pathways.

The need for a strategy in sport, with guidelines on representation at international level, is among the key issues.

Mr Lima indicated that the GSLA was “working with associations on strategies to help push them further and start achieving medals.”

“Look, we saw that we were not doing as well as we had hoped,” he said.

“That comes from the associations themselves, that is not my opinion.”

“They were not happy themselves and they are looking at ways of improving their athletes.”

“If professional role models are something that would help, then certainly go for it.”

But he was clear too that “pathways should not be blocked”, and this could mean changing aspects of how the selection process to represent Gibraltar could be managed.

The debate, however, raises serious questions on whether Gibraltar can, or even should, seek to make changes that could potentially mean people with direct links to Gibraltar, but with no direct involvement in Gibraltar's sporting community, being prevented from representing Gibraltar at international competitions.

Any changes would need to comply with rules set by international governing bodies, which have their own strict guidelines on eligibility criteria.