by Ezra Stuart

LAST WEEK was an excellent one for Barbados on and off the football field.

Today, I salute the national team for doing the country proud by qualifying for next year's Digicel Caribbean Cup finals for the first time in 12 years. The Bajan ballers, by virtue of winning their 2nd Round group, are again entitled to receive the sponsors' monetary incentive award, which is yet to be disclosed and disbursed.

It is imperative the Barbados Football Association (BFA) meet with technical adviser Keith Griffith and resolve his "issues" as we can do without any conflict in the preparation phase leading up to the finals. Rather than being embroiled in controversy, the planning process to beat the Caribbean powerhouses, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Martinique, must now start.

But if we are serious about moving football to a professional level, the BFA should offer retainer contracts to a select group of national players where they will not only receive a monthly stipend but benefit from advertising endorsements through sponsorship from Government and the private sector.

Maximising the marketing of the national team jersey by making the lovely ultramarine and gold uniforms more visible in hotels, duty-free stores, ports of entry and throughout the tourist belt, is also a must as visitors are very fond of soccer souvenirs.

Off the field, there was good news with the passing of a parliamentary resolution to lease 22 500 square metres of land at Wildey to the BFA.

But it was extremely disappointing to hear BFA president Ronald Jones lament that the Town Planning Department "expressly forbade" installation of floodlights, either temporary or permanent, at the facility.

This is indeed a dark day for footballers where a project now costing $4 million would only be able to showcase soccer from sunrise to sunset.

Just like with the redevelopment of Kensington Oval for the 2007 World Cup and the inconveniences which residents in Bush Hall and Waterford have endured for years following the building of the National Stadium, "the greater good of the country", to use the Prime Minister's words, must come first.

As we get ready to celebrate our 40th anniversary of Independence, I sincerely hope that one of our outstanding footballers will receive the Service Star or the Silver Crown of Merit insignia.

My final word is for Reverend Wes Hall to be knighted for his contribution to Barbados and West Indies cricket as a player, selector, manager and board president, politics, especially in the sports and tourism thrust, religion and as one of the most dynamic orators in the world.

ezrastuart@nationnews.com