Stop the idle talk, start serious conversation on sports

Sep 01, 2008 Sports

By Rawle Welch
Now that the Beijing Olympics is over, many countries are at the point of reviewing their respective performances with the aim of creating blueprints to either maintain or improve their showings at the London 2012 Games.

We’ve read about China’s plan to gain more medals in other disciplines despite having won 100 medals in 25 sports, but most of which came in areas they are known traditionally to be strong in, such as diving and gymnastics.

Other countries including India, Afghanistan and our own Caribbean neighbour Trinidad and Tobago have also indicated that they do not intend to lose focus on their Beijing performances and have begun discussions internally to implement plans for the long term.

These countries clearly understand the significance of sports and what it can do for a nation, additionally they know that for them to succeed it will take good organisational planning and the construction of modernised facilities to help propel their athletes to the international level.

The question therefore is whether our sports administrators have even done a post mortem on our performance at the Games and if so what is the result of that examination.

They must explain what plan of action they intend to pursue that could ensure our athletes perform to optimum level and gain success in the future.

Guyana’s performance at the Olympic Games since its initial attendance has been nothing short of pathetic with our only success coming in 1988 in Seoul when boxer Michael Parris returned home with a bronze medal.

Since that time, Guyana has failed to impress and our numbers in terms of participating athletes is dwindling significantly and our presence has become more of a charade with the sole beneficiaries being those that care more about sight seeing and ensuring we continue to get revenue from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for what we do not know.

Imagine, ever since that Herculean display by Parris, no other Guyanese athlete whether based locally or abroad has been able to produce another performance of note.

This is because we’ve not been able to implement a strategic plan to seriously develop sports across this nation. Officials are more intent on offering lip service than providing the amenities that could guarantee success in sports.

For many years we were told of serious plans to advance the development of sports which in turn could be used as the vehicle to provide the economic stimulus this country is in dire need of.

Well, we’ve seen that that plan continues to be elusive, instead, it seems as though Guyana will soon be lost to the sporting arena with regards to being identified as serious contenders.

If our talented athletes choose to remain here, their dreams of getting to the next level or even embarking on a professional career will never be realised, but rather suffer the same fate like those of Rawle Greene, Alisha Fortune, Nyota Peters, Lugard Mohan, Steve Neils Jnr, Warren McKay, Leer Nunes, Jude Bentley, Orlando McRae, the Fernandes brothers (Phillip, Alan, David), Ivor Thompson and so many others.

They failed to make it to the highest level because of poor administrative decisions combined with a lack of support from Government both past and present.

The most disgusting feature about sports in Guyana is the disdain shown by officials when confronted with questions about their poor management and accountability and the lack of development within their organisations.

A serious developmental plan characterised by a strong will must be displayed by the managers of sport with Government leading the way.

No agency plagued with the lack of performance by its executive should be allowed to continue along that path to the detriment to our athletes.

It is time for action, something similar to what the Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Barbadians, Kittians and the Bahamians have done which has led to the positive results they are enjoying presently.

These countries are doing exceedingly well in track and field and that is because of the seriousness in which they’ve treated that particular discipline.

We have a legacy in boxing and that should be our main focus, but this is not to say we should neglect the others, however, that particular sport must be adequately supported because it remains our best bet to gain Olympic success in the near future.

Let us stop the idle talk and start a serious conversation on the future of sports in Guyana.
The Government must play a leading role.