Opposition Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira (JF), sat down with Stabroek Sport (SS) to discuss the recent staging of the historic Guyana Sports Conference, and the impact it can have, once properly structured, on the development of the local sporting sector.
Below features the transcript of the interview in its entirety with Figueira, who also holds the portfolio of Shadow Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport.
SS: What are your thoughts on the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport staging the maiden Sports Conference yesterday at the National Cultural Centre?
JF: “The initiative is one I would describe as having toes on a foot heading in the right direction. Most of what I’m told that was discussed and suggested is known and have been spoken of since the early two thousands. This approach of having the major players in the same space to share ideas is a much better look and it can be viewed as noble, to the extent it is results driven. The evidence of this would be seen on the ground in the different sporting disciplines across the country with the passage of time, soonest I hope.”
A brainchild of incumbent Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr, the aforesaid hosted the inaugural Guyana Sport Conference on Saturday October 2 at the National Cultural Centre. Discussions at the forum centred on the Ministry’s plans for the implementation, structure, and overall aim of their Sports Academy.
The event which is expected to be an annual fixture, featured administrators from the identified 12 core sports discussing their respective successes, failures, and policies during a structured and moderated four-part dialogue.
The core sports currently identified by the Ministry are: Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Lawn Tennis, Rugby, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Track and Field, and Volleyball.
It was disclosed that the three pillars of the Sports Academy are Nursery, Tournaments, and Elite Training Academy. The initiative is a collaborative effort between the National Sports Commission and the 12 core disciplines.
SS: Discussions on the formation of a Sports Academy were amongst the several topics discussed at the forum. While a detailed discussion was not conducted on this impending program, is the implementation of a Government-funded and supervised academy ideal for the development of sport?
JF: “The thought of sporting academies across disciplines are all good and should be encouraged but as you have said, the discussions were not detailed and they are reasons for that. You need to understand that wearing the cap or title doesn’t mean that you are in charge, so therefore one cannot give answers to questions to certain matters that are out of their jurisdiction even though they are clothed with the responsibility on paper.”
“The second issue is ‘government funded and supervised’. My response to this is with a question; why is there this top down approach to sports development, rather than empowering existing sporting organisations to fulfil their respective mandates?”
“This government has always had very little interest in sports development [and] history validates this view. Secondly, there is limited capacity at the ministry in sports management, and thus the requisite human resource will be a significant challenge for a long time if not given the much needed attention. Hence staffing and opportunities for such should be a focus at the ministry if this is really the intention. It is therefore incumbent for one to be mindful of the true aim of this conference. One just has to look at how the PPP constructed football grounds at the Leonora and Providence stadiums – designed to run east to west so playing in the day allows the sun to be disproportionately glared in one team’s face depending on the direction of the sun. As you read today this folly is presently taking place at Providence stadiums.”
“The GFF presently has a number of football academies across the country, but how many are well equipped with the desired resources to reap the desired results. Of those academies how many are managed by a certified ‘B’ or ‘C’ licensed coach. The sad truth is Guyana has about six ‘B’ and seven ‘C’ licensed coaches and not all are active, but there is no one with an ‘A’ license. It now begs the question of what can be found in other disciplines.”
“The aim here thus, should be for the Ministry with responsibility for Sports to partner with the GFF, other federations and associations to improve capacities, improve coaching education and certification, and not to set up parallel academies and tournaments or talk about it because it sounds good or because some characters in the ‘decision room’ sees an opportunity to make some monies for themselves and friends.”
SS: The structure of the academy is centred on the tenets of Nursery, Tournaments and Elite Training. What are some of the other areas that the Sport Academy should focus on for maximum benefit to the sporting landscape?
JF: “It is a given that for academies to reap the desired fruits it has to have the best resources, physical and human. Its success will require the best brains in the particular discipline and that person should be a coach that is teachable and can teach – I make the point that not all certified coaches can give a cogent presentation. Some of our present coaches are motivational speakers and not very technical and vice versa, there is need for a combination of both with other know-hows. Thus, I wonder how much of the chatter at the sports conference addressed the issue of targeted training of (personnel) for each of the specific disciplines. The Ministry of Sports will do good to first learn about the critical human resource deficit of each sporting discipline and provide scholarships/pay for the training/certification and retention of these skills as a start.”
“There is also a deficit in necessary all-weather facilities where academies and tournaments can be held day or night, rain or sun. This is important, because the random and very questionable ten million dollars disbursement for facility enhancement, certainly does not target the attainment of all-weather facilities. The GFF’s facility on the East Bank of Demerara accompanied with lights is a good example of an all-weather facility for most sports discipline, the ministry should be guided.”
SS: While the total cost of the Sport Academy was not disclosed at the conference, how important is funding to the overall success of the program?
JF: “Certainly the Ministry of Sports has monies budgeted that it needs to expand and it has found an avenue. Thus, the onus now will be on the different sporting organisations to see what benefits they can amass from that conference, which I do hope was not just another talk shop for the optics. The success of the intended programmes will not only depend on the expanding of sums, but rather on the quality of the human resource employed to impart the requisite knowledge. It is now a good guess to see the quality of certified coaches/ managers that will be charged with managing these planned academies.”
“I have offered in several of my presentations in the national assembly of what can be done to develop sport, culture and our nation’s youth, if only a level of maturity can emerge from the figurehead to be magnanimous and use or even modify what was proposed it would augur well for our country.”