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During the early 20th Century, Barbados was seen basically as a two-class society, founded principally on social status and colour prejudice. In spite of the clearly divided, segregated society, sport provided one of the few avenues for upward social mobility in a society that was not totally closed. Limited social mobility was possible mainly because of the mingling of sportsmen of low social status with elite members of the society, but yet the restrictive social barriers remained intact within the society generally. In the late 1920’s and dearly 1930’s, both cricket and soccer provided means by which the poor could experience some degree of social mobility. Soccer was more popular than it is today, and the best athletes in both sports were given the opportunity to play for representative national teams in spite of their social status. Although life was harsh for the Barbadian people, they tend to look for relief in the area of sports and recreation. Indeed sports played a very major role within the lives of many Bajans it served as a time when families as well as friends could come together, and share the fellowship of unity. Of course, modern forms of recreation were also important within a centenarian’s life. Mrs. Payne also remembers those days of which she would go to the garrison and watch the horses parading around the savannah. For her this was a time filled with joy, and one of the fond times, she remembers sharing with her now deceased husband, Elliot. She reports by saying that horseracing was a very popular sport and was literally enjoyed by almost all persons; persons of all classes and races attended, and a great deal of gambling was involved as well as cheating, drinking and minor fights. Another favourite pastime that was enjoyed wholly by Mrs. Payne was that of cricket. Being an advent fan of the game, she was still able to relate to one, the rules of the game and also all of the dos and don’ts of this wonderful pastime. However, although she has only been to the oval to watch a cricket match once, she said that she would never miss a game, or at least, never try to miss one. She relates that as a child, there was a sense of ‘cricket fever’ in everyone’s hearts.
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