By Kiev Chesney
Middle and long distance coach Leslie Black has came out swinging at the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), blaming the body for what he sees as poor administration which he maintains is responsible for Guyana not producing world class athletes despite the obvious talent.
“The AAG needs to get more serious and at least try to do something positive for athletes in Guyana because right now athletics is not going anywhere and it will stay that way unless these people [AAG] do something,” he said.
Black said that he feels this way towards the governing body in track and field because he is outraged by its recent administrative blunder in passing up two tickets to the Commonwealth Youth Games in India, and that had added to the overflowing barrel of injustices committed against athletes over the years.
Ridiculous
Speaking on the issue of the AAG passing up two tickets given to it by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) for athletes to attend the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India this October, Black said that his view on that issue could be summed up by one word, “ridiculous.”
He said that even if the association knew that it might not have been able to fund the official’s airfare, it should have made an effort to raise funds for that purpose rather than just give up two free tickets just like that.
“Even if they (AAG) said that they didn’t have the money because they had already made arrangements to go to other tours, they should have at least showed some sort of effort to raise money and which would let the GOA realize that they are interested in going to the games rather that just giving up the ticket,” he said.
“I think that it is almost like if they refused the tickets up front because they could have even asked for an official from one of the other sports to supervise them or the Chef-de mission who they chose last month – I have seen it done before on many tours,” he added.
Black also said that the AAG made no approach to coaches, to see if they could have raised the money. He said that he was almost certain Janelle Jonas – one of his athletes – would have certainly been one of the choices and he would have made efforts to come up with at least some of the money to accompany her.
Perfecting his craft for almost 18 years, Black said that he had seen the AAG demonstrate constant disregard for local athletes by its failure to acknowledge the importance of sending athletes to compete overseas.
Unqualified
but experienced
Black said that although he has valuable years of experience in the field of coaching middle and long distance athletes, the AAG has failed to utilize his expertise because he was not a qualified coach.
While he believes that qualifications are an asset in the field he said that the experience that he possessed should at least be recognized as he has had a hand in producing nearly all of the dominant distance athletes that the country had seen during his time as a coach.
He boasted of having a serious part to play in building the athletic career of Reona Corlette who migrated some years ago and more recently national 5000m record holder, the ‘Little Kenyan’ Cleveland Forde who currently is at the Kipchoge Keino High Performance training camp in Kenya.
While many have called his success with top regional distance runner Alika Morgan, who recently wrapped up her 4th consecutive victory in the Caricom 10k, sheer luck, Black has proved that he can duplicate her success.
Black’s next success, Jonas, 15, is already ahead of where Alika was at that age, dominating on the local scene and already making a name for herself on the regional circuit (Hampton Games Gold medal).
Black said that one of the key ingredients in his recipe for success was something that the AAG had been constantly ignoring -giving the athletes a chance to compete on foreign soil.
He argued that in Guyana where there wasn’t much scope for athletes because of the relatively small number of athletes competing, lack of facilities, and very little assistance from the government, gaining exposure overseas was imperative.
He also noted that it served to motivate athletes who had grown tired of training each day, winning the same races against the same competitors and receiving the same old excuse from the AAG, so when they get short-listed for regional competitions they hear “we have no money to send you.”
Black said that he realized that the only way for the athletes to overcome all the barriers that prevented them from succeeding was to play an integral role in their lives.
“I am not only a coach to my athletes but I play a father figure and a manager and I know that if Alika for instance just had a coach without a management team like us she wouldn’t have gone so far.”
He added:“The AAG has to stop making excuses and get out there and raise money for their athletes or at least put someone in charge of fundraising for the association.
“As a coach I have seen how much gaining exposure can do for an athlete because even if they don’t win they always learn something. This is what the AAG does not understand and until they do, the standard of athletics will never improve change,” he asserted.
