Dear Editor,
We take this opportunity to congratulate the Guyana Team that performed well in the qualifier of the Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean [CDLC), especially Mr. Norman Madhoo who continue to make us proud in darts and has proven to be the premier darts player in Guyana. He will now represent us at the PDC World Championships. I would like to commend the Guyanese contingent on their effective fund-raising efforts to enable their participation in this event in Chile. We, of the Guyana Darts Association, have always encouraged fund-raising among our affiliates. It should not be expected of the National Sports Commission to fully fund all international teams. They have to show that they at least attempted to garnish some funds themselves.
We have never heard of Mr. Mustafaa Azimullah, the apparent author of the letter in your newspaper on Saturday October 21st titled, “Guyana’s Darts Contingent is lacking support from the Guyana Darts Association and Sports Ministry”. We would like to clarify some issues that he may not be aware of. The Guyana Darts Association is a very small organisation and despite our scarcity in numbers we have been the driving force behind the development of Darts for decades. Because of our small membership, our financial capability is meagre but we try our best to fund our activities with fund-raisers and donations. The accomplishments of our internationally recognized players, such as Mr. Madhoo, serves to assist us in gaining visibility.
The Darts Association decided to fully sponsor a team of players to attend a qualifier in Costa Rica in May 2023. Apart from fundraising activities, we reached out to Corporate Guyana and friends to garner funds and donations. By far the most generous of those donations was the National Sports Commission. On that occasion we sent four players (three of whom were in the recent elimination in Chile). Our results were excellent. In June 2023, the Guyana Darts Association decided to fully sponsor a doubles team in darts to attend the World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany. Again our greatest financial contributor was the NSC. Our results were not good.
We again attempted to raise funds for the qualifier in Chile. Funds was received from the NSC, but only after the team had departed for Chile. We are however pleased to note the success of the participants in their own fund raising, perhaps this donation can be now better applied to Madhoo’s expenses. The Executive of the GDA is free to meet with Mr. Azimullah prior to his next publication. We take this opportunity to thank the NSC for their continued support of Darts and hope that these letters do not dampen the relationship between the GDA and Good Luck Norman! Make us proud, once again.
Sincerely,
Ms. Bernice Edwards,
Secretary
Guyana Darts Association