By Marlon Munroe
Funding has always been the major bugbear of sports teams leaving these shores for their overseas engagements and in many cases this is the reason that prevents them from keeping those assignments.
However, it seems that there will be some light at the end of the tunnel since Director of Sport Neil Kumar declared yesterday that the Government of Guyana (GoG) will be assisting the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) to send the local CAC contingent to the games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in July. With the Central American and Caribbean Games’ imminent, Kumar emphasised the need for Guyana to be fully represented in the various sporting disciplines and therefore the administration will be looking to hold talks with the GOA to see what can be done.
And while no formal talks have been held, Kumar promised that the GoG will be doing all that it is necessary to ensure the Guyana participate at the games. He noted that the “government will be giving its unflinching support to the associations and the GOA for their presence to be felt in Puerto Rico”.
However, it is unclear whether the government will be providing any monetary assistance at this time.
Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon the GOA met with 11 sports associations to map out plans and expectations of the governing body and the associations and from all reports GOA President K. Juman Yassin said he was pleased with the outcome. The GOA, according to Juman Yassin, will be covering half of the overhead cost of the teams while the sports associations must put the other half.
Further, associations have until next Thursday (May 27) to produce their shortlist of athletes in order of priority to the GOA so that the governing body can make the application for visas to the United States embassy.
“We have given to them the cost factor and we (GOA) have indicated to them (sports associations) that the GOA will be paying half of the cost so far per person that will be going”, Juman Yassin stated.
For the different associations the numbers of athletes, officials and costs will vary for the July 22-28 meet. Days when the actual disciplines will be held will also differ but at this time it was speculated by Yassin that the hockey and ladies’ football teams might be there for the entire championships.
Having said that, Yassin expressed some concern over the Lady Jaguars, who were given late notice that they had qualified for the championships. With this concern and the amount of persons for the football team, he hopes that the government will cover the expenses for the footballers.
“Fortunately they have qualified but nobody knew that football was on the card for the CAC even the football association (GFF) did not know they (Lady Jaguars) were playing to qualify for the CAC until recently. So it is a whole new ball game of getting funds for football (and now) I sincerely hope that with all the encomiums coming from the government that the government will be able to support the footballers fully”, the former Chief Justice posited. Yassin told this publication that the GOA will be looking to communicate with the Sports Minister Dr. Frank Anthony to brief him on the current developments. At the moment, the cost for one athlete is in the vicinity of $180,000 and it was acknowledged that this is a tall order for many of the associations.
On the other hand, Stabroek Sport learnt that the participation of Table Tennis players is in limbo since the GTTA had not registered to participate at the CAC games. However, Yassin revealed that the GOA has received a letter from the sporting body and he will be looking to send a letter to the CAC committee to have the racquet wielders participate in the games.
The president said that the association was not registered for a number of reasons that he “would rather not disclose.”
The associations that will be participating in the CAC Games: Boxing, Athletics, Cycling, Squash, Hockey, Taekwondo, Judo, Weightlifting, Swimming, and Rugby.
When Stabroek Sport caught up with president of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) Phillip Fernandes he reported that he also was satisfied with the terms and conditions coming out of the meeting. He added that it was imperative that everyone is on the same page in relation to budgetary requirements and expectations from the athletes and associations.
Fernandes noted that that hockey will be fielding a 20-person squad that will include 18 players and two officials. However, he noted that the GHB will see a huge chunk of their expense being cut because of their coverage under an Olympic Solidarity Team Support Grant.
“We (GHB) have to raise the rest of the money on our own and we don’t expect the GOA to give us any further funding because, of course, the GOA is an extension of the Olympic Solidarity so we are unique in that regard”, Fernandes elaborated.
He reported that the GHB has to raise $3 million for its athletes.
