Interviews by
What is the future of track and field in Guyana? What do these athletes need to succeed? There have been several advances, but is enough being done to boost the sport? Stabroek Sport asked some athletes their opinion of the current situation and what changes they would like to see. This is what they had to say:
Dennis Horatio – 1,500m and 5,000m distance runner: ‘It seems as if nobody is really looking into track and field in Guyana. However, they have started the meets where the clubs can run for money and I think that’s really good. In those cases it encourages everyone to come out and compete. What Guyana needs right now is a synthetic track, once we get that everybody will be more competitive, and come out and train, and make timings. The grass track really suppresses athletes, especially the sprinters, because us distance runners we could do our thing anywhere, but for the sprinters from the 100m to 800m runners they need a rubberized track. But one change that I like is that the runners don’t have to pay anymore when they have to go out of the country. I don’t know what used to happen, but before we used to have to like come up with a part of the money and the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) would pay the rest. But now, since Mr Boyce is there, they would just select you and you go. That has been the case for last year and this year since Mr Boyce took over.’
Adam Harris – 100m and 200m sprinter: ‘Guyanese athletes need to step up their game if they want to be seen as a threat. There’s the fact that the facilities that are needed for a legit athletics programme are not there. No one is going to take the sport seriously if there aren’t even the correct facilities to train at. I’ve been told that there is a plan for the installation of a track or a couple of different tracks and that is going to help the sport tremendously. Track and Field is already very competitive in Guyana and with the correct facilities, more and more people are going to want to train and put their spikes to use on a synthetic track, rather than grass. Outside of that, the AAG needs to treat the athletes a little better; they’re kind of late to give the athletes information for big meets, so no one really knows what going on until a few days before they’re supposed to leave. Also the athletes that do represent Guyana don’t get any kind of stipend to fund for training, when most other nations do. The athletes don’t need thousands of dollars every month, but just enough that could help them get by.’
Alika Morgan – Caribbean middle and long distance athlete: ‘I feel athletics right now in Guyana needs to change in the aspect of athletes love for one another and as it pertain to more spectators coming out more to the competitions. Yes more athletics events have been added this year, but you won’t get the kind of support. For example, the Junior and Senior Championships the level of spectators was at a low. I think the under-16 category athletes shouldn’t be excluded from participating because young athletes need money to buy things as well. The only positive thing I see so far is more competitions.’
Kevin Bailey – 800m and 1,500m middle distance runner: ‘Right now, personally I think that athletics is growing but it’s still not up to standard the way it should be. This year we had more competitions. But one of the negative things is that overseas athletes are being paid to train, while locally we are not being paid. And then the second thing is that overseas athletes have a doctor attending to them, and we don’t have that. When I went to Trinidad that’s what was going on with their athletes. And also when we go abroad to represent Guyana we don’t have proper gears, you would get one suit that you have to wear three, four days, and then compete against the other athletes from countries that are providing different gears for each day, so I think that definitely needs to be improved. And then they take their tracksuits back, things like that don’t encourage athletes to compete. I think that what they should do for athletes is have a camp during the year, if they want athletes to improve, and then they should look into the developing on a school or a college that they should have. The AAG should have a lot of money now, reason being that you have a lot of companies putting a lot of money into it. Then there’s the synthetic track they [the Ministry and the AAG] have been talking a long time now about it but still no progress, and we need that.’
Jevina Straker – middle and long distance athlete: ‘Where athletics is concerned I think they need to improve a little more, because right about now some of the performances by the athletes are poor. When I say improve I mean that, yes they have the junior and the senior categories, so that from 16 and upwards can run but what about the smaller ones, what about the younger generation? They need a chance to showcase their talent, because when we have more youth we can make athletics into something bigger. And I think that when we have certain events, like the 10k road race and other events, we need to broadcast it more extensively. We need to start bringing more international athletes so that we can get more competition and that could even help us to improve on our timings.’
Neisa Allen – 100m, 200m and 400m sprinter: ‘Athletics since I have started it has been the same, it isn’t moving from one level to go to the next. And basically that is because when there are international tours the AAG just picks whoever they want to have go. They are not having trials for the other athletes that are not recognized like the rest, so that other people would get the opportunity to go and that doesn’t encourage athletes to come forward and run. You have opportunities being given to the AAG but they are basically giving it to one set of athletes every year, while other people are still staying here. And then there is the way that athletes are being treated, I mean you have to go and run and you and your parents are the one who have to provide. And then there is the lack of the synthetic track, look at the under-23 games, the track was a mess but you still you had athletes who came out and performed. And they see that; they see that we are running times just like everyone else. I mean for me the first time I was at the Hampton Games I won the 200m, and I’ve still been striving to train harder. Since then that’s what I’ve been doing. My timings have improved and right now I am undefeated but that’s only in Guyana.’
Patrick King – 100m, 200m and 400m sprinter: ‘I think athletics is getting a bit better since the president of the AAG has changed. I think it’s moving forward in a way. What I would really like to see is Guyana having a synthetic track, so we can have like more stiff competition in athletics. And then we can have people from abroad come and compete. Because I mean if I’m over there I wouldn’t leave synthetic track to come over here and run on grass. So I would love to see Guyana get a track so we can have more competitions with these overseas-based Guyanese, so that when teams are being picked we know how we stand compared to each other.’
Rupert Perry – 100m and 200m sprinter:
‘Athletics in Guyana? It’s terrible. Because we locals are running really hard and when it’s time for a team to go outside of Guyana, we don’t get picked. Yes, we in Guyana don’t really make the times that some of the athletes overseas make but that’s because we don’t get the expo-sure. And we can’t make certain times on the grass track, and then grass track timings are not even official. The IAAF [International Athletics Association Federation] doesn’t take grass track timings, so we have to get a synthetic track.’
Chavez Ageday – 100m and 200m sprinter: ‘As it is right now with athletics I think the conditions are fairly good. What I think can change is the competitions, in terms of the age group; some of the athletes can’t compete because of the age group. Because in most of the local competitions they only have like from 16 and 17 straight up, they don’t have like for the under-12 and such. It’s only like at nationals you have that; during the year they can’t compete. I just want a synthetic track because training without the track is hard. They’re talking about a synthetic track and I’m hoping that we get one soon.’
Treiston Joseph – 100m and 200m sprinter: ‘Right now I think athletics is progressing with the increase of the competitions and to some extent with the introduction of monetary prizes for the clubs, but for me I think there’s still more to be done in terms of getting sponsorship for the athletes. Well, what I think should be changed is the professionalism of track and field in Guyana. We need better tracks and better officiating and standards at regular competitions, not just at special competitions like the Inter-Guiana Games. They need things that encourage the athletes to do better; things that help us to improve our timings. As well they should have social events that would encourage the social cohesion of the athletes. Overall I think they just need to promote the sport better.’