GAWA enjoyed a favourable 2008 but challenges abound in 2009

Dec 12, 2008 Sports

By Michael Benjamin

Sean Cozier

Despite undergoing severe financial and other challenges over the year, the Guyana Amateur Weightlifting Association (GAWA) has performed creditably under the circumstances and General Secretary, Deion Nurse believes that this augers well for the development of the sport.
Now as another year beacons, the weightlifters are hoping for a change of fortunes that will affect on their performances and by extension, their achievements. Speaking with Kaieteur Sport, Nurse intimated that GAWA started the year on a bleak note, with almost no money in the bank. He said that this did not deter the executives who toiled onwards and eventually managed to field a team to the Criolla Cup tournament in Puerto Rico winning three bronze medals in the process.
The General Secretary said that GAWA started the year on a dull note with a mere fifty five thousand dollars ($55,000) in the kitty and a projection plan that necessitated more than $4M dollars to address.
He said that in order to address such a Herculean task the executive of GAWA organized several fund raising activities. They also solicited funds from the corporate community, in a bid to address their itinerary. However, despite their most ardent efforts they were unable to meet the required amount and were unable to attend the Simon Bolivar tournament, held in Venezuela from 18-23 May and the Panama Masters from 10-12 July in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Nurse said that the limited cash available was just enough to stage local tournaments. These included the Novices, held on March 30 followed by the National Junior championships on May 31. The National Intermediate and President Cup tournaments were run off two months later, on July 31 with the curtains coming down on the local season on November 9 with the staging of the National Seniors championships.
At the start of the year, GAWA was very optimistic of acquiring the requisite funds to attend the international tournaments but in the end were only able to attend the Criolla Cup tournament in Puerto Rico from October 21-28.
He said that local lifters enjoyed some success in this tournament through the efforts of Sean Cozier who captured three bronze medals, one in the snatch and another in the clean and jerk. He also notched up a decent total aggregate that also earned him another bronze medal.
Nurse said that he was very disappointed when local lifters failed to make the qualifying standards for the Beijing Olympics. He blamed this on inadequate funding for international tournaments. Nurse feels that frequent attendance at these tournaments might just be the catalyst to change the fortunes of the strongmen.
Notwithstanding the many challenges faced by the GAWA, Nurse feels that some of the lifters are battling very hard towards their personal achievements. He singled out 15 year old Derek Hyman who had sustained a career defining injury that forced him on the sidelines for one year.
Nurse said that the medical practitioners were not very optimistic that Hyman could have resumed his career. However, he returned to the scene and notched up an aggregate total of 120 kgs, which is highly commendable considering the challenges the young man was able to overcome.
The beginning of 2009 seems to be a replica of 2008. Once again, the GAWA starts the year with just seven thousand dollars in the kitty. They need approximately five million dollars to address both local and international tournaments.
When quizzed on the projections for the New Year Nurse said, “Right now is bare blows.” This simply means that the executive body will be constrained to perform another magical act if 2009 if they are to enjoy any measure of success.

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