Aubrey Hutson yesterday defeated Colin Boyce to become the new president of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) when that body held its annual general meeting and election of office bearers at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) building Thomas Lands.
Hutson won the presidency by six votes to three.
The vice presidents are Dr. George Norton and Gavin Hope while Wayne Walcott, Leslie Black, John Martin, Mark Scott and Faye Naughton are the committee members.
There were no elections for the post of secretary currently being held by Claude Blackmore since according to the IAAF ruling,the General Council of the AAG will select the general secretary.
The newly-elected Hutson in an invited comment told Stabroek Sport via telephone that he was pleased to be given the opportunity to head the AAG.
According to Hutson the decision to run for presidency of the AAG was not one that he made on his one but rather was made after he was prompted by a number of clubs.
“Majority of the clubs approached me and asked me to run as they thought that I had something to offer,” he said.
He explained that as former president of the Running Braves Club he understood exactly what athletes and coaches were going through and while he is not promising anyone favours, he plans to ensure that each athlete is given a fair opportunity.
Athletes, he said, will be selected on merit.
Asked what his plans were as the new AAG President Hutson said he will strive for transparency and accountability.
“For the last three years we have not been receiving reports. There will be better forward planning and development of athletes. There is no developmental plan, goals or targets by the AAG. We don’t know what our under-16 athletes could do by the 2016 Olympics. We will also be working with coaches and creating a budget while working to achieving those bench marks.”
The AAG, Hutson said, needs to move away from the trend of hosting a number of events that do not prepare the athletes for the Olympics. Meets should always be created with the aim of preparing athletes for the Olympics, he stated.
Hutson, said that one of the sore points that will be dealt with by his administration is assisting the hinterland athletes.
“We know that we have been producing long and middle distance athletes from the hinterland region but, accountability and distribution of assets is not being done. In order for a meet to be successful, for sponsors to get their monies worth, we need to get the cream of the crop and you can only do that by getting athletes nation-wide competing.”
Hutson said this was why it is necessary for him to have a meeting of coaches. He also said that there needs to be a revision of the times being set by the AAG.
Hutson said in many instances, hinterland athletes competing in long and middle distance events, have not been making the times locally, but return with medals from the Junior Carifta games which shows that the AAG times need to be reviewed.
Speaking of his executives, Hutson said:“Everybody on the executive would have raised their hands to be nominated because they have something to offer and once they have something to offer I am willing to work with them.”
He explained that despite opposition on certain matters, any decision that is made will be one that reflects executive’s decision and not Aubrey Hutson’s decision.