Coaches want NSC to investigate Guyana Judo Association

Jun 22, 2008 Sports

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GJA President calls the pair disruptive forces

By Sean Devers
Since the Guyana Judo team medaled at the 1970 Pan American Games in their first ever international competition, the popularity of the sport in this country has taken a nose-dive.

For a sport already affected locally by a lack of participants and poor sponsorship, the internal conflicts which seem to be brewing in the Guyana Judo Association (GJA) will do nothing to enhance the image of Judo in Guyana and attract ‘new blood’ to the discipline.    

Local Judo Coaches and former GJA Executives William Blackman and Andy Moore claim that GJA President and Politician Geoff Sankies is running the Association like a dictator and its lack of activity is worrying.

Sankies, the GJA’s Head since the sport was resurrected in 2001, defended the allegations by describing the pair of Coaches as ‘disruptive forces’ who are not genuinely interested in trying the assist the GJA in the revival and development of the Sport locally.

The disunity among the GJA membership has reached a point where the pair of coaches, who claim that they are being discriminated against by the Sankies, wants the intervention of the Director of Sport Neil Kumar and Guyana’s Sports Minister Dr Frank Anthony to investigate how Judo is being administered in Guyana. 

“I have had discussions with Mr. Kumar on the matter and he has asked us to send a letter documenting our grievances to him. My Club is also being discriminated against by the GJA,” Moore complained to Kaieteur Sport.  The letter has been sent to the Director of Sport and copied to the Minister and the Guyana Olympic Association.

Blackman was elevated to the position of Secretary of the Association’s in 2006 and is a certified Second Dan Judo Coach.

Moore and Blackman lost their positions during the last elections last year and Blackman, who served as the GJA’s Assistant Secretary for seven consecutive years from 2001, wants Sankies to explain why their were no elections from 2001 to 2007 although the constitution mandates annual elections.

“Sankies wants to run the Association by himself and Judo in Guyana has not made any grounds under his stewardship. A five-year strategic plan from 2007 was presented to the Sports Ministry.  For this year not a single planned activity up to June from that document has materialized,” Blackman informed.

He opined that Sankies has a hidden agenda and said he has pointed out what he described as ‘the several shortcomings’ of the GJA and put forward suggestions on the way forward to the GJA Executive but lamented that his proposals have been ignored.

There are three registered Judo clubs in Guyana and Moore, who runs the Anidan Judo Club, said that the GJA, in an advertisement in one of the daily newspapers, omitted his club from the advertisement.
Blackman also noted that he was mainly responsible for the recent fund raising ventures while he said that he and Moore have been trying to promote the game through Television shows.

He also said that since he demitted office as Secretary there has been no written minutes of meetings while the venue for the last monthly was changed from the usually Marian Academy to a City Restaurant.

When contacted for a comment, Sankies who has been an Executive since the GJA was formed in 1968 explained that changes are usually made to any long-term plan as he referred to Blackman’s accusations about the Strategic Plan.                     

According to the GJA head, there are 12 Black Belt Judokas in Guyana.  It was further explained that any Black Belt Judoka can coach in Guyana once they are physically able to do so.

Sankies said many of the planned events could not be organized because of a lack of participants, especially the young ones.

In his President’s report for 2007 Sankies said “A Major challenge facing the GJA is developing the sport throughout Guyana.  We need to help our affiliate clubs attract and keep members. We were unable to have a National Judo Championships this year because of a paucity of potential competitors.  Referees Clinics were held twice this year at Critchlow Labour College.  We need to continue this trend next year.  No Coaching clinics were staged this year by the coaches W. Blackman and E. Fraser who had participated in PASO sponsored courses. Efforts to get them to jointly prepare a programme proved futile.”

Sankies said the GJA wants to develop more youths in the game but stressed that if persons like Blackman and Moore continue to sow seeds of disunity in the GJA, Judo would not attract new membership.

“We want to take the game to schools but the problem is that we don’t have the Coaches to make this happen. We can’t have competitions since we have about 20 participants but not to the level of where we can compete at the International level,” Sankies explained.

Sankies disclosed that the next elections will be held just after the Olympics and said that while Blackman did initiate fund raising activities, he presently owed the GJA money from a fund raising effort since last December.

The GJA said that the fees of members of Moore’s club have not been paid resulting in the Association considering his club a non-functioning club.

Sankies disclosed that the planned affiliation of a Berbice Judo Club did not happen because the lone Black belt Judoka in the County, Philbert Fields could not mobilize enough interested persons in the area.

According to the GJA, Guyana was also scheduled to participate in the ALBA games last month but this did not happen because none of the local Judokas have reached that level. 

Sankies said that instead of hosting the Inter Guiana Games in November, Guyana will now try to send a team to participate in Suriname since it is felt by the GJA that there are not enough young Judokas here.

Sankies pointed out that Blackman and Moore are no longer Executives of the GJA and as such are not invited to certain meetings. This he said was why they were not aware of the venue of the last monthly meeting. Sankies also informed that there is no registered office of the GJA.

Sankies said that he wants to see more unity in the GJA and explained that according to the Section 17 (a) of the Rules of the GJA states-: If any dispute shall arise between a member or a person claiming through a member or under the rules, or any person aggrieved who has ceased to be a member of the Association and the Association or any Officer of the Association, it shall be decided on by reference to Arbitration.

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