FORMER Trinidad and Tobago Olympian and government minister Wendell Mottley reminded scores of young athletes on Friday that they had been given gifts with which they must now decide, "today", that they either carve out a career using their God-given prowess or settle for a mundane life.

Mottley, now a Wall Street, New York banker, was the keynote speaker during the 2011 First Citizens Sports Foundation Youth Awards in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain.

Also present was Sport Minister Anil Roberts who was on hand to distribute the trophies to the top male and female recipients.

Mottley, a silver medallist in the 400 metres at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and a member of the third-placed T&T 4x400m relay team, used the recently-made documentary about West Indies cricket, "Fire in Babylon", to recall the past exploits of Caribbean athletes.

He spoke about those world-class athletes being trained by carrying out a "very Caribbean" pastime such as the stoning of mangoes which, in turn, made them excellent bowlers.

"You have been pre-selected for extraordinary lives and if you have not already decided so well, today, you must make that decision," he told the athletes.

"You must pursue sporting excellence relentlessly because the world of yours is going through a time of economic crisis and, arising out of the last Davos economic forum, they predicted that in the next ten years there will be 1.2 billion people looking for work while there will only be 300,000 available," said Mottley.

"You in this hall here are a set of highly-privileged Caribbean people, so good luck and God speed in your pursuits," he added.