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Bunbury’s results overshadow many
By Rawle Welch
Reeling from a shower of stinging criticisms about his performance after
twenty-plus years, President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) K. Juman Yassin attempted to answer his critics by offering support to a promising young athlete recently.
However, while the extension of goodwill was welcomed, many who’ve paid close attention to his performance in office believes that the latest attempt is a little bit too late and seems to be more an act designed to preserve his time at the GOA, especially with the December elections just around the corner.
A source close to the GOA said that the President has been making the rounds pleading with heads of member associations not to jump ship now, but allow him the opportunity to serve another term, during which time he hopes to progress the Liliendaal Project that is being constructed to house the entity’s headquarters.
This Project is what Yassin is probably hoping will cement his legacy, but while procuring a home for such an important organisation is praiseworthy, this endeavour is not the primary role of the organisation, but really aiding in the development of sport.
That means securing the expertise of high level coaches and administrative personnel, funding of teams and athletes and using all available avenues and resources to advance sports development should be the priority. These are areas where many feel that Yassin and the GOA have failed, the Organisation has been unable to match the advancements of many of their sister organisations within the Caribbean and this has left our athletes lagging distantly behind and correctly dispirited.
The inconsistency of the GOA philanthropy is also of concern, there seems to be an absence of a policy, a necessary component to guide associations’ heads and at the same time instill confidence in other stakeholders.
In the absence of such a document it creates confusion and very often suspicion as to who is really eligible for assistance and who is getting it.
It is clear that not every association that request support from the GOA automatically qualifies for such, but a policy that defines the requisite benchmarks when soliciting support should be the first step. Our athletes are ready to take off; they are in set mode for many years, but the observable paucity of strong-willed and concerned administrators are leaving many of them discouraged.
Just to give an example of how a caring administrator operates to the benefit of his or her organisation one just have to look at what former Canadian football star and Hall of Fame inductee Alex Bunbury is doing.
Merely ten months after he first publicised his intention to open an Academy to assist in the development of local athletes, four promising young footballers are on the cusp of profiting from his resolve.
He has been able to get two of them to one of the top Academies in the world in Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, while two more is set to jet off to Deportivo Alves.
This is what you do as an Administrator eager to move forward with sports development in your country, you just don’t utilise your office for personal profit, but use it to the benefit of those who were responsible for you being there in the first place.
Stakeholders and I mean association heads must be bold enough to hold those that wield the power to promote sport accountable for their actions, otherwise the grief and embarrassment we feel when our athletes perform disappointingly will continue.
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