Dear Editor,
Despite all the adversity and criticism (constructive or non-constructive) Bro Jamal Shabbaz has faced in the past, he has been given an interim appointment as Head Coach, Guyana’s Senior National Football team, by the Normalization Committee. This is for an international friendly involving Guyana and Barbados, after which the Olympics (under-23) and the World Cup qualifiers are slated for later in the year. Editor, I find the appointment strange when one takes into consideration that two days prior to Shabbaz’s appointment, Canadian-born Claude Bolton was given a four-year contract as the GFF’s Technical Director.
While Shabbaz is no stranger to Guyana in his capacity as the senior team national Head Coach, it would be remiss of me not to mention that he even considers Guyana as his second home. An accommodating nature, exuberance, methodology, professionalism, religious principles, self-esteem and yeoman service to the sport locally, are all attributes which he possesses. And it cannot be overlooked that out of frustration Shabbaz could have simply walked away when in one instance the GDF, the GNS Sports Complex and the Police grounds were all unavailable for the nation’s senior national team to train on, owing to rain. It was definitely not a torrential downpour, but still the red flag was evident at all the venues. Surely, some Caribbean and non-Caribbean nationals would have packed their traps and headed for the airport.
Finally, as it relates to his accommodating disposition, the Asst Coach, Goalkeeping Coach, Physical Trainer and Physiotherapist are all locals with whom the individual works. Also, coaches can attend training sessions and interact whenever the opportunity presents itself, while the Coaches Association can request the individual’s presence at a seminar/course/ workshop for conducting lectures in areas relating to coaching and training. In more than one instance club and school coaches benefited from Shabbaz’s expertise under the auspices of the Kashif & Shangai Organization for the annual year-end tournament. Can this be facilitated by other foreign coaches? Maybe, maybe not, but in the case of some foreigners who travel with their own technical staff, locals will definitely be sidelined. In relation to financial remuneration, the sum of US$6,000 is chump change in relation to attracting someone of substance and the desired quality, since some individuals’ salary is in the vicinity of US$30,000-$50,000 monthly. Can our economy sustain this when sponsorship for competitions is hard to come by? And the lack of infrastructure and spectators’ accommodation removes the major ingredient of marketing. Who will pay an entrance fee of $1,000-$1,500 for a doubleheader domestically when they have to stand?
I do hope that with the Technical Director’s appointment for four years, his involvement would not be deskbound, but would also include devising and implementing two or three systems for training and playing, and that affiliated clubs of the GFF practise at least three times weekly so in the event of any player being selected for national duties they can adjust easily to the team’s playing and training system.
Yours faithfully,
Lester Sealey
