-Says former GOA vice president Neville Denny
Former Vice President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) Neville Denny said there can be no real development of sport in Guyana unless administrators invest in the athletes by providing proper equipment and training from the primary level.
In a recent interview with Stabroek Sport, Denny also said that the blame game which is being played out in the public following Guyana’s poor showing at the London Olympic Games should not have happened as it is well known that Guyana was not and is still not prepared for the Olympics.
“Sports have gone to a very low level in Guyana and my take is failure to prepare means that you are prepared to fail. First, you must ask yourself what is required and then you ask yourself how much is required to be done to produce what is required and I don’t think most of the people involved have asked themselves those two questions,” he said.
According to Denny, running every afternoon will not make you ready:“We don’t have the coaches at the level – neither in boxing, athletics nor the other sports. Therefore, the children are not ready. We have to start with programmes from the school so by the time they get to age 13 they can be ready for the youth world and then they will go on to world junior, Carifta and so on.”
He submitted that what has been happening locally is that athletes are handpicked, trained and then put into competitions. “I challenge you to go out in to the fields of athletics and ask the youngsters questions: `What are your ideals? Where do you want to be like X time?’
“They can’t tell you, I spoke to a 15-year-old not so long ago from a club and I asked her the same questions and she said she will have to go home and think about it. At 15, when in other countries children would have been preparing for junior world.”
Guyanese athletes, Denny argued, are further put at a disadvantage because officials continue to use substandard equipment. He noted that this is strikingly obvious at track and field meets where some runners appear to record better times than Usain Bolt.
“I ask myself how is Usain Bolt doing just 10 and we have athletes here doing 10 seconds also in a hundred metre and thinking about going sub 10 which is being reported. But when you go to an electronically-timed event they get a shock and that is how it goes.”
According to Denny, a decision has to be made now regarding procurement of better equipment.
“But we have to come together and do it instead of arguing and pointing fingers and playing the blame game.”
Funding and preparation
The former sports administrator also cited lack of funds as a major hindrance to sport development. Since neither the GOA nor other athletic associations and clubs have money, they must generate funds. Accountability is also an issue, but at some point a person or group has to be tasked with managing money set aside for sport, he opined. Companies should also make bigger investment in sport where their contributions could be used to build infrastructure and buy equipment for the various disciplines.
Denny is concerned that the lack of proper infrastructure will result in injuries. “We have not done any hurdles, look at our throws: javelin, discus or shot-putt, they are mediocre. Where are our high jump mats, the children are getting injured.”
He also noted that preparation for the Olympics would mean that physiotherapists, sports physiologists and doctors would have to be added to the team. Denny revealed that a group of doctors affiliated with the Athletics Associations of Guyana (AAG) had expressed an interest in facilitating such care but nothing concrete ever came about.
Denny also told this newspaper that the Ministry of Sport has the funds needed to advance sport but some associations have been delinquent in submitting their audited statements resulting in the delay of the release of funds. In other cases, associations that would have provided audited statements and met the necessary criteria have also not received any funds.
Prizes and incentives
Athletes must also be told what prizes are in store for them on winning international medals and championships. Denny said the ministry’s practice of promising assistance on winning top tier medals and its subsequent failure to deliver must also be stopped. “You go and you bring back trophies and you don’t get anything. You are promised assistance from the ministry and none is forthcoming. Sometimes Mr [Neil] Kumar [Director of Sport] is willing and ready to help, telling you I will get it for you, call next week and it never came, that was in my time, I don’t know if it still happens,” he said. In referring to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, Denny said athletes that from those countries know what their country will do for them when they win certain international competitions. Further, insurance policies are taken out for them in case of injury.
Denny also knocked the habit of certain sport personalities who are known to pay for a place on a team. This will also result in the ‘haves’ making the team while the ‘have nots’ who may possess the requisite talent, are left behind. Further, the Olympic Association and the AAG have held outreach programmes in the North West but have failed to reap many benefits as Physical Education is not on the Education curriculum.
According to Denny, with adequate funding, infrastructure and officials, Guyana can get to the top, but it will take time and hard work. Sport development must be looked at holistically, and must involve both the ministry and GOA.
“We are trying to play catch up with Jamaica who has been on a path for the last 60 years. Since 1948 they have on that path and preparing and they are now reaping the benefits. They have a school structure that brings their athletes through to the top; they have a coaching structure that brings the coaches up. They have a programme where they were sending athletes overseas, but now they are working to keep them in Jamaica. But it is a structured approach that has brought the results. Trinidad is doing the same thing and they are getting the results,” he said.
Guyana needs to employ a structured approach, starting at the primary level. It also needs to put to work the talent the AAG has produced including several first and second level coaches.
