GOA confirms, defends Coach Ryan’s appointment for Beijing Olympics

Jun 08, 2008 Sports

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…welcomes anyone who is eligible to represent Guyana

By Sean Devers
President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) K Juman Yassin yesterday confirmed that United States based Track and Field Coach Joe Ryan was appointed by the GOA as Guyana’s Track and Field Coach for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing China from August 8-24.

He also defended the appointment.
Yassin, flanked by GOA officials Garfield Wilshire and Ivor O’Brian, cleared the air concerning allegations that Ryan’s appointment was done through a ‘back door process’ made in a Kaieteur News story written by Trinidadian based journalist Edison Jefford.
Yassin informed that the GOA welcomes anyone who is eligible to represent Guyana to do so despite where they live.
He said there are several Guyanese studying and participating in the United States of America including 20-year-old sprinter Gordon McKenzie, who lives in Queens New York and is a student at the Holly Cross High School. Yassin disclosed that McKenzie wants to represent Guyana in the Beijing Olympics.
McKenzie, who was born in the USA on August 21, 1987 to Guyanese parents; Bryan and Mirlyn McKenzie, has a best time of 10.29 in the 100 metres.
 “Although he has qualified for the Olympics he is not eligible to represent Guyana since he does not hold a Guyanese passport and he participated on the USA IAAF Junior World Championships squad in Beijing, China, where he was a part of the 4×100 metre relay team that finished second.
“While McKenzie has made the qualifying time he will not be able to represent Guyana because he will need to get permission from the United States to change his country of representation after running for the USA at the junior level,” Yassin explained.
He added that the fact that you now have to present yourself to the Guyana Passport office to get a new Guyanese passport make it even harder for McKenzie to get everything in order soon enough to make him eligible to represent Guyana in the August Olympics.
“He is just 20 and we (Guyana) will be participating in many more international events in the future so I look forward to him representing Guyana in the future” Yassin said.
Speaking about Jefford’s story, which was critical of Ryan’s appointment, Yassin said Ryan’s appointment was no secret and was endorsed at a GOA meeting in April which was attended by all of the Associations.
“At that meeting there were no objections to Ryan’s appointment while the media was informed of the announcement of his appointment at our press conference on May 9,” Yassin disclosed.
President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Claude Blackmore was quoted as saying he was not aware of Ryan’s appointment and Yassin said he was surprised if Blackmore did say so since Ryan’s appointment was confirmed since April. 
The GOA Head explained that Ryan was selected as Coach mainly because he was Aliann Pompey’s coach for over a decade and still coaches the 30-year-old 400-metre specialist who participated in the 2002 and 2004 Olympics without reaching the finals.
Pompey, who ran a personal best time of 50.93 seconds four years ago in Madrid, along fellow middle distance runner Marian Burnett, who is also doing very well academically at the Louisiana State University, are the Guyanese track and field athletes carrying most of this country’s medal hopes in China.
Jefford’s story also questioned why local Coaches Linden Wilson, Cornel Rose, Mayfield Taylor-Trim and Wanda Richmond were not selected. Yassin explained that  
Ryan was picked because it was felt that his selection would be in the best interest of those participating since he was an experienced high-level coach who has worked extensively with Pompey in the USA where she campaigns.
“Jefford wrote without asking the questions to those who could have provided the answers. Maybe it was because he is overseas he seems to be out of touch with what is going on here,” Yassin said.
“Mark Scott who recently returned home with a level-four accreditation, is the highest ranked AAA Coach while Cornel Rose who is a level-two Coach, is next after him. Rose has been named as the Manager of the team to China,” Yassin informed.
Yassin said that during the 2006 CAC games in Colombia, Pompey complained that the relationship with Coach Elton Smith was not very good and affected her performance since his training system was different from what she was doing with Ryan and pointed out that the GOA has not forsaken the local coaches.
It was noted that Andrew Harry, a New York based coach, was in charge at the 2000 Olympics with Carmen Pertab serving as Manager.
Burnett’s Coach Mark Elliot and Pamela Phillips the Manager in 2004 Olympics while the late Ken Elexy was the Manager/Coach at the 2006 Commonwealth games, while Elton Smith was with the team the same year at the Central American and Caribbean games. Keith French was with the Pan American Games team last year.
Yassin said that he while he could not speak for the other Associations there is complete accountability in the GOA.
Yassin also referred to the Athens Olympics when Guyana’s top swimmer Orlando McRae had Hazel Haynes who was based in Trinidad as his coach.  “Orlando was at that time living and training and Trinidad and was even staying at Mrs Haynes’s home. We felt that to have her there with him was in his, and the Country’s best interest,” Yassin stressed.  

         
The experienced Ryan entered his 17th season with the Manhattan College track & field coaching staff this year after serving two years as the women’s assistant coach and two years as the women’s head coach. He has spent the last 10 years as an assistant coach in Manhattan’s combined track & field program.
In 2003, Ryan was named as one of the recipients of the 2003 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award. He was one of 500 selected out of 350,000 high school and college assistant coaches across the nation.
During his tenure as head coach of the Lady Jaspers, Ryan’s teams won seven Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships and three Metropolitan Outdoor Championships.
In 2002, he coached Pompey to her first gold medal in the 400m at the XVII Commonwealth Games, where she represented her country of Guyana. Due to his extraordinary training over the years, Ryan was selected as track coach of the Guyanese track team for the 2001 World Track & Field Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

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