President of the Guyana Tennis Association (GTA), Christopher Ram, yesterday expressed his “disappointment” with the reaction of the Sport Minister to criticisms made of local facilities by International Tennis Federation (ITF) Development Officer Anthony Jeremiah.
Ram, in a release yesterday, cited the actions of Minister of Sport Frank Anthony and Director of Sport Neil Kumar following the publishing of a courtside interview with Jeremiah by Stabroek Sport during the ITF officer’s visit to Guyana.
In the Stabroek Sport article Jeremiah, who is based in Trinidad, lamented the state of Guyana’s lawn tennis facilities while speaking with Stabroek Sport at the National Gymnasium where the GTA was hosting an under-10 programme.
Jeremiah said that the court in the National Park requires a facelift, more particularly, if the nursery is the main focus. He noted that in his estimation the National Park court is not “playable” and certainly not “conducive for young players to enhance” their game.
He also added that if the powers that be can construct more courts then there can be an influx of international competitions here as is the case in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and other Caribbean countries.
In response to Jeremiah, Kumar said that the Sports Ministry was already planning on re-surfacing the courts in the National Park prior to Jeremiah’s statements and he was “very upset” that Jeremiah did not meet with the Sports Ministry first to relate his concerns about the condition of the courts.
Kumar was unable to give an exact date when the re-surfacing of the tennis courts in the National Park will begin, but stated that “anytime now” the contractors will be commencing work.
In his release Ram noted that Jeremiah, whose main focus is the identification and development of junior tennis talent, “made what in a less politically paranoid environment the innocuous statement that the tennis courts in the National Park require a facelift.”
“Jeremiah’s comments ought to have been taken in the spirit in which they were intended, which was to highlight some basic requirements should Guyana want to improve its current standing in tennis regionally. His comments were by no means meant as a personal criticism of anyone or any office.”
Jeremiah was scheduled to pay a courtesy call on the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sport and the Guyana Olympic Association to discuss developmental issues such as it relates to tennis administration, the development of coaches and facilities.
However, according to Ram, on the day that Jeremiah’s statement appeared in the press, Anthony “abruptly cancelled” their appointment.
In relation to Kumar’s comments, where he stated that Jeremiah should have met with the Sports Ministry first to relate his concerns, Ram continued: “Mr. Kumar ought to know that on the few occasions that Dr. Anthony found it possible to meet with the local tennis body and with Jeremiah on his biannual visits, the state of the courts and pleas to the Ministry for support by the government to the sport have been staple representations that are consistently ignored.”
“Mr. Kumar may not be aware that the International Tennis Federation pays the stipend of our National Tennis Co-ordinator and provides equipment and balls for junior tennis. We are therefore embarrassed at Mr. Kumar’s and his Minister’s response to a representative of the world tennis body who often goes out of his way to squeeze his regional budget to top up their contribution to Guyana.”
“We note that Kumar has set a start date of “anytime now” for contractors to commence work on the tennis court at the National Park, the central training facility for our junior players. We trust that this prediction by Mr. Kumar will be more accurate than those for the Non Pariel facilities renovation which are still on-going after four years and expenditure of millions of public funds.”
“Of course we welcome any resources the Ministry or Department of Sports makes available but it would be disastrous and inappropriate for Mr. Kumar to proceed without the benefit of relevant technical expertise and consultation with the two bodies.
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“The truth of the matter is that both Dr. Anthony and Mr. Kumar have not been supportive of tennis and (are) consistently unresponsive to the Association’s attempts at engagement in strategic dialogue for the development of tennis in Guyana.”
“Since taking over as Minister of Sports in 2006, Dr. Anthony has never once attended a GLTA activity. This lack of interest extends to our communication with these senior political sports persons as well as the Minister of Education which regularly go unacknowledged let alone addressed.”
Ram’s release added: “We are confident of the natural talent and athletic ability of Guyanese across sporting disciplines, including tennis, to excel. Yet, in order for our people to achieve their potential, we need policy makers who do more than bully-preach about how much money the government spends on sports but rather who understand the role which all sports play in national development.”
