General Secretary of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) Hector Edwards is spot on. When it comes to sports, this country wants returns before investment.
The former national cyclist Edwards made this observation Tuesday at a press conference held by the Olympic association to brief the media in the wake of the team’s failure to win a medal at the prestigious games.
“We look at countries of the Caribbean but they have been investing. We in Guyana don’t seem to realize that you get returns after you invest, we got a totally different view you have to invest first,” he said.
While there are some who (foolishly) believe that winning a Pan Am games medal is as simple as ABC, those who like, Edwards, have competed and distinguished themselves in sports know otherwise.
They know of the endless hours of training, the tremendous sacrifices and the financial and other support necessary to win medals on the international scene.
Other countries know too that winning medals at Commonwealth, Pan Am and the Olympics can only occur if the athletes are invested in and even such investments are not absolute guarantees that the athlete will be able to land that coveted medal.
Which is why the point made by Kalam Juman Yassin, president of the GOA, that government support is needed is also spot on if not a bit too late since this point should have been made many moons ago.
Simply put, unless there is substantial investment in Guyana’s athletes medals at major international games such as the recent Pan Am Games will be difficult to attain barring miracles.
Elite athletes
This is where the subject of Elite athletes come in.
Elite athletes are athletes who have excelled in their discipline.
Going forward this newspaper would like to suggest a tri-partite committee comprising representatives of the GOA, the government and the national federations/associations sit down and hammer out an agreement whereby elite athletes can access funding that will enable them to compete internationally and hopefully win medals.
In Guyana’s case the elite athletes will be the ones tasked with winning medals in the not too distant future.
Going forward this newspaper would humbly like to suggest that the committee suggested above, sit down and work out the parameters of becoming an elite athlete and the funding and other benefits that will accrue.
The agreement should also stipulate the penalty of failing to honour the agreement of being an elite athlete.
Hopefully having access to funding for training and competition will result in better performances.
First, though the committee with the assistance of the coaches and medical personnel will have to identify the Elite athletes but a few such as Troy Doris, Winston George, Chelsea Edghill, Kadecia Baird, Leslain Baird, Emmanuel Archibald, Aliyah Abrams, Daniel Williams, Kerwin Clarke, Emmerson Campbell, Roseann Fung, Brenessa Thompson, Keevin Allicock, Michael Anthony, Paul De Nobrega, Jamaul John, Shomari Wiltshire, Narayan and Priyanna Ramdhani, Mary Fung-A-Fat, Aroydy Branford, Jeremy Garnett, Jether Harris, and Abosaide Cadogan, readily come to mind although the associations and coaches would be in a much better position to decide on who should benefit from such funding.
The committee should also sit with the athletes and their managers and medical personnel to map out a strict training and competition schedule aimed at getting the athlete in tip-top shape for upcoming meets. For instance, planning should start immediately with the Tokyo Olympic Games in mind and a number of athletes who might possibly qualify for those games should be given as much assistance as possible to strengthen their chances of being among the top performers rather than being among the `also rans’.
There must also be incentives for winning medals internationally which can include a full year’s sponsorship of equipment and such like.
Additionally, sports associations can also play their part by rewarding national champions with one year’s supply of equipment to help them offset the high cost of participating in sports.
Business houses must also play their role by assisting with sponsorship for the nation’s top athletes by the use of billboards and other means in showcasing the athletes and their achievements.
Elite athletes are constantly under internal and external pressures and as such, having access to proper medical and other facilities are a must.
The government needs to take the lead now and start a movement which would lead to better performances at major games for a start and hopefully later on, medals of the bronze, silver or gold variety.
