By Iva Wharton
Three months on the job and the new Sports Coordinator at the University of Guyana, Laver Fraser-Thomas is already making inroads into the development of sports on the Campus.
In an interview with Stabroek Sports yesterday, Fraser-Thomas said her immediate goal was to have more student participation in sports generally at the university; “not cricket, football and basketball, I am talking about scrabble, chess and table tennis.”
According to her the university has to reach the point where its performance in sports is reflective of the standard that is expected at this level and not the lackadaisical attitude that has come to be the norm.
“We have been participating in cricket locally but this participation is seen by opponents as just participation. That’s an image I am working assiduously to change.”
The change, she said has begun, as she has noticed a difference in the attitude of players competing in the Georgetown Cricket Association’s Nobel House Seafood tournament.
“To date we have played three matches, they won two of them, one they won by an innings and runs to spare.The third one, due to rain, they were unable to play, but they came out on top of the group with two points. So, this shows that in the cricket arena the team is picking up and recognizing that this is era in sports at the university.”
The football team she said is also showing promising signs with their participation in the Georgetown Football Association’s, Presidents Beer tournament being played.
Team UG, she said, played two games with one win and a loss. A third match will be played today.
“Even though they did not win the second game, the kind of reviews that the game would have had and it pertains to its performance it feels very good. So we have started, we have taken the first steps on that road to ensure that we are not just participating, but we are also being reckoned with.”
Another of her plans is to have the university compete with other tertiary institutions such as the Government Technical Institute and the Cyril Potter College of Education among others. This, she said, would give all athletes the chance not only to interact with fellow athletes but to also get the kind of competition that gives them the extra push needed.
“Internationally as funds would allow, we would like to participate in University Games around the World and the Caribbean that offer invitations.”
Already the university’s football team has been invited to a football competition, but her immediate interest she said is preparing a team to compete at the Barbados Relay Fair set for February next year.
Fraser-Thomas said she is in the process of getting all the documents together to seek the necessary permission to compete at the Fair.
The students, she said, now have access to several coaches in several disciplines which will boost their performance at competitions.
For the three months she has been there, Fraser-Thomas said that the coaches have become a part of the students’ lives.
Asked about cooperation, Fraser-Thomas said she enjoys full cooperation from the Student Society representatives as well as the administration.
Fraser Thomas said this semester, scrabble competition was introduced. Next year she plans to bring on stream chess, trumps, dominoes, table tennis, volleyball and netball.
Also next year the sports department would be organizing an inter faculty volleyball competition she said but said she could not say if the same will be done for netball although the university would be competing in an inter organizational netball championship.
Fraser-Thomas said when she assumed the position there was work to be done as the university was short on equipment. That, she said, was one of the cries of athletes but that has been taken care to an extent. Then there was perception of sports on the campus.
“One of the reasons why organising and promoting the track and field competition was very important, was because it became a bench mark for most of the students making the decision to get involved or not.”
With the new structure in place, Fraser-Thomas said that the university would be in a position to select the best teams to represent it at competitions. The selection process she said would take place at the inter faculty level on a yearly basis.
“This means that at the next academic year, those if you want to call them freshmen, coming in they will have to do their own trials vying for a space on the team. So we don’t have to wait until the next inter faculty competition”. With that system in place, she said would allow the university to compete at all levels.
In another two years, Fraser-Thomas said that she would like to see a track installed at the university. According to her a track means that athletes will not have to leave campus to train be it for in house, national or international championships.
Whether sports will become mandatory at the University of Guyana, Fraser-Thomas said the possibility exists as sports goes hand in hand with academics. The University of Guyana she said has begun presenting students with co-curricular certificates. These certificates she said are seen as a plus for students who wish to further their studies at universities overseas.
All financing for the department Fraser-Thomas said is at present handled by the university, but she said there will come a time when the university has to forge relationships with the business community to push its athletes. Sponsorship from the business community she said would alleviate some of the financial expenses undertaken by the university.
