Challenges remain, but year was good – Adonis

Dec 14, 2008 Sports

– plans to work in tandem with Sports MinistryBy Rawle Welch
Even after describing the past year as a successful one, President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Noel Adonis admitted during an interview with Kaieteur Sport yesterday that many challenges still face the sport.

Adonis was offering his views on the entity’s performance during the past year, while revealing some of the plans they have for the new one.

He said that the achievements of both male and female teams were outstanding and worthy of national recognition.

According to the GRFU Head, rugby is still not seen as part of our sports culture, so it is always struggling for mainstream attention unlike sports such as cricket, football and basketball and this reality has impacted negatively with regards to the personnel growth in the sport.

“This may be because there is an absence of rugby on television as compared to the other three and that may be one of the reasons why many young sportsmen and women have not gravitated to the sport so far.”
He opined that with the growing success of both components, combined with a robust development plan, it could prompt a change in fortune next year.

“We will attempt to work in tandem with the Ministry of Sport to spread the game in the outlying regions and this can only be possible through the acquisition of more coaches, a feature we intend to expand in the New Year.”

Adonis confessed that their focus previously was predominantly within Georgetown apart from two other attempts at Mocha Arcadia and Annandale, but according to him, getting coaches to conduct sessions in the other regions would have required additional cost to the programme which was inaccessible at the time.

COMPETITIONS
“In terms of competitions, we got off to a relatively good start with five players Theodore Henry, Richard Staglon, Kevin McKenzie, Claudius Butts and Albert LaRose making the West Indies team that participated in San Deigo, California with the additional element being that Butts was the captain of the squad,” Adonis said.

Following that, the national Men’s team then traveled to the Cayman Islands to compete in the 15’s World Cup qualifiers where they finished second overall behind Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), a result Adonis referred to as commendable.

“I think that was a sterling performance and it showed that in that segment of the sport, we had improved,” Adonis indicated.

Guyana then hosted the Women’s 15’s and once again, it would be the Trinidadians who came out victorious via the points’ margin system even though the locals played unbeaten.

The GRFU Head said he felt that that result provided the platform for the sustained string of outstanding performances by the females which culminated with the winning of the Caribbean segment of the NAWIRA Championship in the Bahamas.

“I think that after placing second to T&T at the tournament that was hosted here, the girls begun to believe in themselves and vowed to do even better the next time and we all know what they’ve done since then,” Adonis related.

The Under-20 team then journeyed to Barbados to participate in the Caribbean Tournament, but finished in the unfamiliar position of fourth. “This was an unusual placing for us at this level, but many factors could be presented to show why we ended in that position,” Adonis said.

“First of all, some of the guys were preparing for CXC and then the difficulties to get facilities to train also impeded our progress and that may have influenced the sub-par performance, but I’m not making excuses.”
The local Men and Women then trekked to the Bahamas to participate in the NAWIRA Sevens World Cup Competition where they both won the Caribbean divisions with the former making it three in a row, while the Ladies captured the crown for the first time.

The Ladies then closed the year with another positive result, winning the T&T Enthusiasts Invitational Tournament.

“Essentially, we had a full year of regional and international engagements and this might have compromised our local competitions, they did present a stiff challenge for us,” he said.

Another achievement was that the GRFU in keeping with their developmental plan was able to run off at least one school tournament which attracted seven (7) schools in the U-14 category and two (2) in the U-16.

PROJECTIONS
Adonis disclosed that only last week they had received a document that outlined the list of regional and international engagements for the New Year and they intend to start work very early in preparations for those events both in terms of identifying teams and acquiring funds.

He also revealed that discussions about possible tours outside the region will take centre stage since Guyana has dominated the Caribbean for the past three years and seemed stuck in gear when they vie for a place at the next level which may be due to a lack of top quality competition.

“If we are to get past teams such as the USA and Canada, we need to find ways to expose our players to a higher level of rugby that could improve their chances of overcoming the usual stumbling blocks.”

Adonis indicated that they also intend to increase the number of local tournaments even among the schools to stimulate interest in the sport, while the initial interaction with the Minister of Sport which according to him has been favorable will continue.

“We will meet very early in January to discuss our Action Plan,” Adonis disclosed.
He extended thanks to all the business entities and individuals who contributed to their success in the past year.