Should expats be allowed to represent Bermuda?

Now that the World Amateur Team Championships 2010 is over, so now starts the inevitable discussion on what Bermuda needs to do going forward. 

It happens every two years in the same way night follows day.

Here are some of the facts for 2010.  The Bermuda team of Jarryd Dillas, Terrence Daniels and Jun Haardart did a good job by finishing just above halfway out of 69 teams. 

All three players should be proud of their performance and we should be proud of them. 

It is a very creditable result for a team pulled from a village of 65,000 people, where there are only 2,500 golfers of one description or another. 

The debate that takes place every two years covers many topics but it always manages to boil down to two. 

There seems to be almost as many opinions on who should be on the team, and how they should be selected, as there are golfers in Bermuda.

The current system for selecting any team that will compete abroad is to have a qualifying event locally with the top finishers earning the right to represent Bermuda.  Players are invited to participate in the qualifying event based upon performance to date. 

That brings in some subjectivity to the process, however, there are guidelines in place to help define what performance is appropriate in order to be selected for the qualifying event.

There are many people who disagree with having a qualifying event but I am not one of them. 

I am a firm believer that anybody interested in representing Bermuda should be prepared to participate in a qualifying event. 

Don’t get me wrong, I do not think that it is a perfect way to select the team, but for our little village that we call a country, I believe that it is the most transparent and equitable way of doing it.

The other bug bear concerns who should be allowed on a team that will be sent abroad to represent Bermuda. 

This is a seriously controversial topic about which people have strong opinions so be prepared for some fiery words should you ever be involved in this particular discussion.

The hot part of this debate revolves around whether or not any expats should be able to represent Bermuda. 

The current rule is one expat on a team comprising three or four players, and none for teams of less than three, with a residency requirement in terms of time placed on the expat golfers. 

Some like this rule and some don’t but almost everybody has an opinion, and it’s usually delivered in a no-nonsense manner.

I understand the interest in only having Bermudians in a WATC team in the same way I understand the interest in Bermuda going independent. 

The theory is sound but does it actually work in practice? 

Bermudians gain more by not going independent.  We also gain more by competing against our expat brothers and sisters. 

After all, no one grows by limiting themselves.