By Iva Wharton
Digicel Guyana yesterday announced that it was preparing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for another three years as the main sponsor of the National Schools Swimming, Cycling and Athletics championships.
This disclosure was made at the launching of the national schools championship yesterday at the Education Ministry building on Brickdam. The company’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Shonette Moore said that the company was pleased to be partnering with the two agencies for a second year. “We certainly believe in the potential of the championships and based on that we are not only committing our sponsorship for this year in fact we will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding for three years,” said Moore.Moore added that the company was looking forward to a fruitful relationship with the Guyana Teachers Union and the Education Ministry as it relates to the development of the championships. “We see the National Schools Championships as basically a moulding ground for athletics in Guyana. “It is our belief that once the athletes start training at a young age then they have a better chance of becoming successful as they grow older, so you will definitely see more sponsorship from us in this regard.”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Phulandar Khandi expressed gratitude and said that the ministry was happy that the phone company has once again answered their call for sponsorship of the championship. “These championships as you know really represent a culmination of long hours of days and weeks of practice and championships at different levels of the school system, all age groups of the length and breadth of our country.
“As a ministry we recognize the value of working together and playing together and what it brings to our students in moulding rounded personalities.”
According to him there was a successful collaboration with the phone giant last year and the championships were among the best so far. He said that it is hoped that they can surpass last year’s event. This year, some 1700 athletes countrywide are expected to compete. President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) Colin Bynoe, said that the union was pleased that the company had seen the importance in sports and was throwing in their lot in order that young people can realize their dreams. “We expect that this year’s championships will be exciting, one where we will see Guyana’s young stars on show and coming out of it we can brag about having several persons who we can give extra training and support to who will in time represent Guyana.”He added that apart from Digicel coming on board the championships have grown tremendously and the operations cost to host it yearly continues to increase. As such there are repeated calls for corporate Guyana to come on board. “We have already had discuss with corporate entities apart from Digicel and those like the beverage companies, Banks and DDL. We would have spoken even to Giftland and these companies would be coming on board to give their support. We are hoping that one day the championships will be one that more than one corporate company will hold on to the championships and make it into what we want it to be.
“We want to see the day when our corporate companies will take charge of our athletes from the time they leave their homes, to the time they come to the championships and then take them home. And I now that there are corporate companies in Guyana capable of doing that,” Bynoe declared. Bynoe said that the budget for this year’s championship was $16.5 million dollars. However, Khandi said that they are yet to quantify the financial support from the phone company. But he said that it is contributing a substantial portion of the budget.
Digicel had contributed$G3.625m to last year’s championships. According to Khandi, the ministry was aware that the company was not in a position to finance the entire championships. As such, he said, they were still working on attracting additional sponsorship. “Remember some of the teams from the different regions will be supported by funds from the national budget. “What we bring to these events at around 2011, is a higher quality performance both in terms of times and the level of quantification. “Better level of athletes in terms of coaching and a better commitment to the games themselves by all parties concerned including corporate sponsors, the Ministry and the Union.” The games are scheduled to start on November 14 at the Providence Stadium.
