“It was one of the toughest decisions the AAG had to make since I became president.”
This was how the Athletic Association Guyana’s (AAG) incumbent, Aubrey Hutson described the disappointing no-show of the local athletes yesterday at the ongoing CARIFTA Games in St. Kitts.
After a two-day CARIFTA trials last month, 12 athletes were selected to represent the Golden Arrowhead at the 44th edition of the Games but a series of unfortunate events left the contingent grounded, disappointed and seeking answers.
Yesterday, Hutson explained what went wrong after exploring many avenues.
First up Trinidad
“All the plans were in place to leave on a Caribbean Airlines flight on Thursday, I spoke to Alan Baboolall (General Secretary of the National Amateur Athletic Association of TT) twice and he assured me that he had 15 seats reserved for us.
“I subsequently called him three Fridays ago because I was looking for an extra seat for myself. In that conversation he told me that all the seats for Guyana are gone and that the flight is closed. I then asked him if that included the seats for Guyana. To my surprise he said yes and he doesn’t know what happened but all the seats are gone.
We then called Caribbean Airlines to cancel.”
After the Trinidad tragedy, Hutson and the AAG turned to the Land of Wood and Water for help.
Second, Jamaica
“We spoke to Dr. Blake of Jamaica and we gave her the names and then we started doing work with Fly Jamaica.”
Hutson stated that the names of the athletes were sent to Jamaica but their charter could not accommodate Guyana’s contingent since “the seats were given to the Turks and Caicos athletes.”
In the aftermath, the AAG asked Fly Jamaica directly about going to St. Kitts.
“Fly Jamaica said sorry our plane is grounded in the US, we cannot fly out that Thursday” Hutson bemoaned.
Fly Jamaica fell through and “LIAT was booked solid.”
Third choice, Suriname
“I spoke to my friend from Suriname who also said he was a victim of the Trinidad and Tobago arrangement.
We made contact with a Suriname charter but that would have cost us $US32, 000. Up to Good Friday I was at Ogle trying to get a charter but the plane was small and we would have had to make four trips at $US7000 each.”
The AAG head noted that when the council looked at their budget, the decision was made that only US based Brenessa Thompson would be able to compete at the Games.
“It was not an easy decision but we had to do it” he said.
Hutson added “It’s really and truly very disappointing on my own behalf, since we had athletes who were definite gold medal prospects.”
The selected athletes should not rest on their laurels as Hutson stated that they will be the ones representing Guyana at the South American Junior Championships in Peru in June and also the Association of Pan Am (APA) Youth Athletics (a precursor for the World Youth Championship) in Cali, Columbia next month.
“They have already committed four tickets but even if the AAG has to find money to send all of the selected CARIFTA athletes we will send them” Hutson promised. (Emmerson Campbell)
