The Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation (GABBFF) was fraught by setbacks for last year with the association finding it difficult to garner any meaningful sponsorship to host tournaments and send its teams abroad for international competitions.
Inadequate funding and sponsorship resulted in the postponement of the GABBFF Senior National Championships in September. The spinoff of this was the Guyana’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) team staying at home.
This, of course, was not unique to last year. Many of its athletes last year including Clint Duke and Alisha Fortune, expressed their disappointment especially in light of making considerable sacrifices to prepare for these major meets.
Last year also saw some of the athletes expressing disenchantment over the way things were done by the association especially as it related to the garnering of funds to host tournaments and to send athletes abroad. The GABBFF though, in many instances, appealed for help from the corporate community and from the Sport Ministry but to no avail.
President of the GABBFF Fiona Harris had even questioned the reluctance of entities to contribute to the sport that she believes sometimes is being placed on the back burner. However, there was the notion by some of the athletes that the association was too tardy in its arrangements to secure funds in a timely manner.
This, according to them, placed the association at a disadvantaged position.
On the other hand, there were some bright spots for the association. One that stood out was the arrangement to decentralise the sport with the hosting of the national intermediate championships in New Amsterdam.
This championship saw the emergence of some new talent that participated at the Senior National Championships. After these championships there was no activity for the remainder of the year until the Annual General Meeting last Friday when Harris was re-elected president.
The association has done away with its 12-member executive and replaced it with a six member steering committee. That committee has documented a comprehensive report to push the sport forward with some of last year’s unfinished activities included.
In the document it was stated that the members of the executive committee will be conducting regular visits to gyms both in Georgetown and out of town areas to “monitor and coach athletes for competition”. These visits will also be used as a form of “talent spotting”.
There is also the coordination of sponsorship packages for athletes in an effort to encourage and market the talent available to the GABBFF. The GABBFF, as part of its sponsorship package, has agreed to make athletes available for endorsements and advertising.
They had identified the reigning Ms. Guyana Alisha Fortune, and the former CAC gold medalist Sylvan Gardener for sponsorship packages from FILA Company through Giftland Office Max. This was a one time donation of cash and gym wear in return for their appearance in the local FILA advertisement.
Drug testing and anti doping strategies for athletes will also be undertaken by the association and this will be done in collaboration with the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and World Anti-Doping Association (WADA)
Athletes will be educated on the issues relating to substance abuse and will be repeatedly reminded of the consequences of drug use in the sport.
In the plan it is also noted that outreach programmes will be conducted in outlying areas such as Berbice, Linden and Essequibo. It is the aim of the GABBFF to take the sport to unknown territories. Word coming from the association suggested that it has been able to create a presence in Linden and Berbice and it will be aspiring to achieve the same in Essequibo by the end of 2011. Further, the GABBFF is desirous of starting a health awareness programme at schools and this is expected to start as a basic health and nutrition programme. However, it will eventually lead to a major national competition among school aged children or children under 18 attached to any educational institution. Meanwhile, it has been recognised by the GABBFF that bodybuilding and bodybuilders have not been given due recognition in the past and as such it will be making the achievements of the sport known.
