A slice of orange and a glass of water

Nov 15, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Guyana’s football reminds me of cricket in Essequibo. It has made few strides over the decades
True, last year, Guyana’s ranking in world football rose, but there was also a brief moment, decades ago, when Essequibo cricket seemed to be in the ascendancy, only to nosedive soon afterwards.

Somebody has to step forward and take responsibility for the stunted development of football in Guyana. Better yet, more persons have to call a football a football and face the inevitable consequences which come with making a courageous stand.

I have no doubt also that, for football to go places in Guyana, a serious rethink is necessary at all levels of the game.

There are many well-intentioned persons who feel that the solution to the problems facing local football begins and end with the football federation.

They may have a point, but this is not where all the problems reside. It would be naïve to believe that the problem is that simple.

There are problems with football at all levels, and the failure of Guyanese football to reach the heights reached by Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica requires serious radical changes at all levels of the game.

One of the main problems concerns funding of the game. A few years ago, the Government of Guyana injected some forty million dollars into the club structures. At the time this may have seemed a significant sum, and there were plans about ensuring that the monies were properly used.

The first misconception of the Government was in believing that the half of a million dollars they gave to each club was significant. It was not.

The price of football gear, while not as expensive as say, cricket, is still costly. A reasonable pair of football boots costs in excess of $8,000, and a good quality ball averages about $4,000. Then there are shin pads and clothing, which cost a fair sum.

Most clubs are burdened with the responsibility of providing clothing for their players, and this is not cheap. And this is where I think the problem originates.

There are many persons who want to play the game, or wish for their stewards to play the game, but they do not wish to purchase gear. There is still a mentality that the clubs must provide the gear without any significant contribution from the players themselves.

I am not accepting the excuse that most persons who play football are from the lower class and, therefore, they need assistance.

I am saying that, regardless of the economic class from which you originate, you must find the resources to at least bear the cost of the gear that you play with, and which your clubs have to provide.

By relieving those cash-strapped clubs of this responsibility, it will allow them to improve other areas of concern.

Clubs need help, but, foremost, they need help from their players and members. I am saddened and embarrassed whenever I go to a game and at half time all some clubs can offer their players is a slice of orange and a glass of water.

Football in Guyana cannot go any place if this is how players are going to recharge their energy at half time.
This is where change has to begin.

Those who play the game must take pride in their contribution towards the expenses involved in outfitting players. If any player says he or she cannot afford this, or cannot gain sponsorship to fund their own involvement, then, sorry, they should not be playing the game.

If a player cannot afford to finance his gear, then how is he or she going to find the money to eat properly and train in the way that he or she ought to eat and train in order to become an international player?

If players are allowed to feel that the clubs will always be there to equip them, and they are not required to make a financial contribution towards those expenses, then a mendicant attitude will develop, and this is not the basis for developing professionalism in any sport.

I do not accept the excuse that the players cannot find the money. If they truly love the sport, they will find the money, and finding the money is a first step towards making the sort of changes at the club level that are necessary.

For those who are calling for resignations, I do not believe that merely making such calls will yield results. There is not likely to be any major shake-up in the football fraternity, unless these calls are echoed by sub-associations, clubs and players.

There will be no resignations within the Guyana Football Federation simply because a few persons make demands for resignations.

Even if all members of the Guyana Football Team resign, it will not make a difference, unless the sub-associations decide to follow suit, and unless the vast majority of clubs do the same. I do not think this is likely, and therefore the present imbroglio is likely to fizzle.

When something is not working and has not worked for a number of years, there can be no harm in trying something new.

Football in Guyana has not gone anywhere for some time now, and therefore what is needed is for someone to come forward with the vision to grab the game by its shoestrings and run with it into the future. I am yet to see that vision or individual emerge.

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