Orville Higgins | Simple wishes for the new year

I will not be strident in defending or taking on a topic today. I will just use this opportunity to wish that you enjoyed the holiday celebrations and hope that 2020 will be a better year for you. It is commonplace for us as Jamaicans to make new year’s resolutions, most of which we don’t keep. I have my own wish list of things I am hoping for in the new year. If the genie gave me the lamp to rub and make some wishes, these are the things I would come up with.

In football, I hope the Reggae Boyz continue on an upward spiral and continue the growth showed this year. In the same breath, I hope the problems that ail the women’s football programme will be alleviated for next year.

I am also hoping that the issues with the Sunshine Girls go away for 2020. It would be a travesty if this talented group of ladies ended their international careers with nothing substantial to show for it. Let us all hope that Connie Francis can take them to the promised land.

In cricket, I hope the Windies finally turn the corner next year! Under the Phil Simmonds-Kieran Pollard combination as coach and skipper, we have seen some reasonable signs. The truth is that we have been fooled before, so on this one, I remain hopeful but not overly optimistic. While on cricket, I want to wish that Jamaica’s senior men’s team finally starts winning again. The team has been ordinary for years ,and my wish is that 2020 brings a change of fortune.

Next year is an Olympic year. We did relatively well in the World Athletics Championship this year, getting medals in areas where we would not normally feature. We have been spoilt, though. We still want those field event medals, but I also want to see us dominating the sprints again. Maybe it is asking too much for our sprinters, especially the males, to be as good as the Usain Bolt era, but that is why it is a wish list, and not a reality check!

For the less popular sports, we hope that you do get your chance to shine next year. To all in the sporting arena, whether players, coaches, administrators, fans, or colleagues in the media, let us be careful for the few days left in 2019. While we celebrate and party, let us make a special endeavour to be safe so that we can all survive the old year and be around for the new one. I am looking forward to interacting with you all in 2020.

Orville Higgins is a veteran broadcaster with more than 20 years experience in the field of sports.