Arguably the most renowned coach Guyana currently has, Coach Lyndon Wilson of the Police Athletics Sports Club had an eye opener on his Olympic debut as coach for Guyana’s athletics team in London.
Wilson, who coached Guyana’s only locally-based Olympian Winston George, was so awed by the experience that he was forced to do some introspection.
“When the Olympics finished, before I came home, I asked myself whether to continue coaching or not. It was a dream for me to coach an Olympian and to have the opportunity to be an Olympic coach but I decided to continue to coach because I love what I do,” Wilson told Stabroek Sport in an exclusive interview.
The experience for Wilson has left a definite impact on his coaching life after seeing the competition level and the professionalism of the athletes.
“First of all it’s an honour to be at the Olympics and for me when it comes to things like our preparation and where we are right now, we are at minus zero. Those athletes are on another level and we are not following. Their professionalism and approach is so different from our athletes even when I was dealing with the two America-based athletes in (Jeremy) Bascom and (Alian) Pompey they were so different, they knew the things they had to eat, the right supplements…the approach was just another level,” Wilson pointed out.
Turning his attention to the performance of the Guyanese athletes at the Games, Wilson said he believes that the athletes gave of their best on the day of competition.
“Despite what, I would like to say that Guyana performed at their best. I know corporate Guyana expected more but on the day an athlete can only give of their best and I don’t think that the athletes would go out there to run below par, they tried their best,” Wilson stated.
Meanwhile, with Guyana’s low level of sports, Wilson believes that the way forward lies with the schools and corporate Guyana as a whole.
“Just to get to where the other countries are, focusing on a Caribbean level there are a whole lot of things we got to look at and we need to start in the schools. It’s not up to the associations, clubs or coaches to get these athletes where they are but it’s up to corporate Guyana, everybody inclusive of the top straight to the bottom,” Wilson stated.
Sports as business
Wilson also pointed out that the difference with Guyana and other countries is that they see sports as a business.
“We need to put more in sports generally, we are using sports as fun but there is no more fun for sports in the world, it’s a business now and they invest a lot of money to get there and if we are talking about tourism I think sports is the best way to go for Guyana,” Wilson maintained.
With 2012 in the rear view mirror and 2016 four years away, Wilson suggested that one of the main ways Guyana can have a better showing at the Olympics is if coaches come together and work with athletes who have potential.
“We as coaches cannot be divided, we must come together and work with athletes who have potential. It cannot be a one-man show because in Jamaica while Glen Mills (Usain Bolt’s coach) might be the main coach there are other coaches who might just look at the first three strides out of the blocks for Usain and that is their job and they report to Mills. “In Great Britain over a three-year period sprinters were taken into a camp and then phased out, so we must come together with the potential we have… it is a process that should not just happen in the Olympics year itself – it needs to start now,” Wilson told Stabroek Sport in the interview.
In light of the government setting up a track and field stadium, Stabroek Sport asked Wilson whether coaches here can take their athletes to the level required at the Olympics.
“We have and I will say yes, we have quality coaches and talent but we need to improve the framework and the funding… I have had conversations with some of the coaches at the Olympics and they respect my knowledge base so we definitely have the talent to do so,” Wilson stated. Meanwhile with his first Olympics experience over Stabroek Sport questioned Wilson on what he expects of himself as a coach now that he has had such a life changing experience?
“Well I see myself as being the advocate of getting the coaches together and moving from there. I love what I do and although I was probably the only coach at the Olympics who does not get paid to coach, I want my country to do well and hopefully we can come together and start this process now so we can at least be vying for medals in 2016, something I believe we can achieve,” Wilson concluded.
