President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Colin Boyce has deemed last year a successful year and is optimistic about the future of athletics in Guyana especially for this year.
“I think last year would have been one of the better years for athletics. We had a lot of success especially in the junior category; we had the emergence of Stephan James who did well at the Carifta and Pan American Games by running his personal best and reaching the finals,” Boyce told Staroek Sport in an exclusive interview yesterday.
“Alika Morgan and Cleveland Forde also held their own in the senior category by winning various 10k’s,” Boyce added.
According to the head of Guyana’s track and field, the high points for athletics last year were the running on home soil of 400 metres specialist and double Commonwealth Games medalist Aliann Pompey and Winston’s George Olympic qualifying run, which made him the only local-based athlete to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“The two high points for this year that I don’t really want to judge bigger than the other is Aliann’s 200 metres expedition at home although she won fairly easily but I think that helped the local women somewhat along and Winston George qualifying for the Olympics this year which made him the only locally based athlete to attain such a feat,” Boyce commented.
Boyce also praised the 2011 Inter Guiana Games track and field team for its success.
He was areful to point out that Guyana in 2010, had lost the female championship alone after it was spilt into the male and female categories.
However, last year Guyana was able to redeem themselves by winning both male and female championships, thus resulting in an overall athletic victory in 2011.
Boyce also gave an insight into the AAG’s thinking
as it relates to getting the athletes in form for the Olympics.
“Last year there was the emergence of 100 and 200 metres specialists Rupert Perry and Quincy Clarke and there are plans being put in place for them to attend a training programme in either Trinidad or Jamaica with the hope of qualifying for the Olympics.
“George is also expected to attend a High-Performance Centre in Jamaica in the hope of bringing down his time…paper work have already been forwarded to Jamaica of which I’m very optimistic about,” Boyce mentioned.
With the 2012 year now commencing, Boyce revealed that there are a lot of competitions to attend and said he hopes that coaches can lift their standard of training in order to ensure that the athletes not just make trips abroad but reaches the final of the events.
Boyce also said that he views the young and talented Jevina Sampson who competes in the 100-400 metres events as a likely candidate to attend the Carifta games in Bermuda.
“I’ve heard that she will reach the age where she can compete at Carifta and once that is so, it is a matter of how she perform at the our Trials, even if she misses our times by small margins I believe she deserves a chance to compete.
“I’m not biased and once I see an athlete with the inclination to do well I will allow them to try their best because it will allow that athlete to see where they are among their peers in the Caribbean and also have a chance to prove themselves to scouts at those games,” Boyce stated.
Boyce also revealed that the only troubling factor for athletes of this nation is that while some might be doing exceedingly well on the track they might not be replicating those performances in school, which is a major concern to his administration, which will be looking into ways and means to help that situation.
Further the president of the local association also indicated to Stabroek Sport that he is currently in talks with the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) to set up training stints for young athletes.
Meanwhile, switching attention to the synthetic track, Boyce stated that while he thinks the current phase the track is looking good, some skepticism was shown to when it will be finished.
“I visited the track last month and the base foundation is looking good, the whole plan for the track includes stands and a warm-up track which I was unaware of initially and is expected to be finished this year with the view of opening the track with Schools Nationals but with the pace they are going at, I think the laying of the track might finish until mid year,” Boyce stated.
However, Boyce thinks that the synthetic track will be good for Guyanese athletics in the next two to three years as it will afford athletes to be more conditioned to the feel of such a surface along with the possibility of Guyana holding international events with the only deterring factors being transportation costs and accommodation for athletes at international meets.
Moreover, Boyce believes that once he is re-elected next year, he will continue to strive for the betterment in athletics along with his hopes of more medals, for Guyana at an international level especially for the 2012 year.
