By Neto Baptiste
Stop waiting for an athlete to achieve something spectacular before lending critical financial and moral support.
This is the advice of Antigua and Barbuda’s lone professional tennis player, Jody Maginley, who believes the practice of applauding an athlete only after they have achieved is not the kind of support needed to propel them forward.
“To me, it’s more important to feel the support from people back home before the results come in and while the hard work is going on, because in sports, a lot of people like to congratulate you after you have a good result, and a lot of people don’t understand how much is going into it in terms of the preparations, how many long days we have, and how many lonely days we have on the road working on things, so I am indifferent to the applause afterwards,” he said.
Maginley, fresh off representing Antigua and Barbuda at the 2023 Davis Cup in Trinidad, was speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show when he was questioned about the level of support he is currently receiving via government or corporate sponsorship.
The player, ranked 650 in doubles and 1174 in singles, said he is currently funded via “private sponsors” with help from family and friends.
“I would say that right now I am not on any scholarships, and I’ve not been helped by the government or NOC since the last Olympic calendar, so all of my sponsors are private sponsors in terms of Heritage Sports, AG Services, Kitesurf Antigua, and my parents also help me out when they can, so those are the people who help me out now, and keep me on tour, so I have to say thanks to them,” Maginley said.
Asked how he felt about the tennis association’s decision to not make any nominations for the recently held National Sports Awards, Maginley said that although he hasn’t had any discussions on the decision with anyone from the association, what matters to him the most is that those in authority are in possession of statistics if it helps in their decision to offer support.
“I don’t even know how this works, I don’t know if there is a judging committee, but if I am nominated and I get an award I would thank them for their consideration because I am sure some things go into it, but I know that tennis as a sport, if I am not the one sending the results and doing the research for whosoever makes the decision then I know I will not be in the running for any awards, so it is nice to see that your efforts are appreciated,” he said.
Maginley was part of a four-member team that contested the recently-held David Cup. The other members were Cordell Williams Jr, Rodaine Monelle and Ron Murrain. President of the tennis association, Cordell Williams, travelled as captain/coach.