Administrators need to do more

Dec 11, 2008 Sports

– curb selfish ambitions

By Rawle Welch
Usain Bolt speaking shortly after winning the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association Male Athlete of the Year award, praised the Body for doing a lot of work in helping to develop the nation’s athletes and track and field overall.

Immediately what came to mind is whether any of our athletes could openly say the same about the Athletic Association of Guyana or more directly could any member of that Body express with conviction that they’ve worked assiduously to assist in the development of the sport.

This discipline apart from football has perhaps the most traveled administrators who attend all the biggest Games, Courses and Meetings globally, but yet their presence do not reproduce positive performances by our athletes.

It simply means that the display put on by officials under the pretext that they are sincerely working to benefit the sport in a positive way is more a charade that reality.

Many other observations flashed across my mind as I reflected on the absence of honest administrators who would do anything to provide avenues for aspiring athletes to reach the pinnacle of success.

Look at the unselfish nature of some of Jamaica’s athletic coaches, who after years of hard work are now reaping the benefits of their labour, which was obviously supported by strong administrative guidelines as well as the Government.

These two critical features are lacking in Guyana and this has created disillusionment among our athletes which has been manifested in our poor showing at regional and international competitions, while our sports administrators continue to enjoy the luxury of their respective high offices that takes them to Rio de Janeiro, Lausanne, Brussels, Valencia, Beijing and other capitals of the world.

Very often, the media has asked sports administrators to give account of their performance or lack thereof, but all they get in return are flippant responses and this might be because the media sometimes fail to work in tandem to constantly besiege these non-performing executives to improve or demit office.

You cannot help but admire the way things are done in other territories and one example of keeping the public informed and interested every step of the way is to look at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) 2012 action plan, which has been drafted to improve their medal haul in London.

Imagine, a country way ahead of us in terms of quality athletes, very early outlining their plan to do well at the next Games, while their sister Body, the Guyana Olympic Association, has so far failed to make any announcement related to their plans.

You immediately see the difference in administrative performance and this has been the pattern for many years.

As the saying goes, ‘if you fail to prepare, you have to prepare to fail’, how applicable to many sports entities in Guyana.

The TTOC’s plan has also taken into account the global economic downturn and as the Head of the Olympic Committee Larry Romany pointed out recently, they have to be more creative.

He also said that they were going to restructure administratively to advance their efficiency since the cost of winning a medal has not and will not fall and the financial support for their athletes will not be compromised.

The question that must be asked is where our London 2012 action plan is and whether or not our athletes in whatever discipline will be supported financially. Administrators simply need to do more and curb their selfish ambitions.