Overall performance of GCF in 08 disappointing – President

Dec 25, 2008 Sports

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While there were a number of events during the year most of which were organised by National Cycling Coach Hassan Mohammed, President of the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) Hector Edwards has revealed that the Federations performance during the period under review (2008) has been disappointing.
Edwards, who took over as President of the Body in 2004 is of the view that the momentum from 2007 should have been maintained in this new term but that has not been so.
Optimism was high at the start of this new three year term but has waned with the progression of a few short months the reasons for this trend are many. And while the administrators have been grappling with their aspect of the whole, cyclists, the most important ingredient, have been pedaling their hearts out on the track and streets to keep the sport alive.
“I thought we could have done a lot more to bring some amount of coherence to the sport. Some of our members who were given responsibility in various areas would have actually failed us.”
It was pointed out that the Federation like many others in Guyana, is not financially strong and they should have embarked on a number of fund raising initiatives to boost them in this regard but this never took off.
In the last month the Federation pulled off a raffle which according to Edwards was relatively successful but he is still disappointed with the general performance of the Finance and Fund Raising team.
“That I think is an indication of what actually happened throughout the year.”
The President was also dissatisfied with Guyana’s non participation at the Junior Caribbean Championships which were scheduled for Curacao.
Most of the arrangements were put in place to facilitate team Guyana’s travel but slow action on the part of the manager and the rising costs of air travel ended any hopes of participating and as is the norm, the athletes ended up at the receiving end.
“That was sad because I think we had a good chance of doing well, we did excel the previous year and I think we would have done well again. Christopher Holder should have been given a chance to pull off the youth championship (road race and time trial) since it was his last year.”
But the blunders did not stop at the junior level, the senior team that should have participated at the senior championships held in St. Vincent & The Grenadines were to also experience what the juniors went through.
A six-man team was shortlisted but again, due to the lack of funds, only two riders were able to make the trip largely funded on their own behalf along with assistance to theGCF by businessman and veteran cyclist Shameer Baksh, Steven Edwards and Raymond Perez.
“The Federation doesn’t have the resources to send a team out, we rely on sponsorship and those cyclists can attract their own funding and clubs do assist also from time to time. “If we had a full team, we could have done far better at these championships.”
National Cycling Coach Hassan Mohammed who works directly with the National Sports Commission (NSC) and is also the Race Secretary of the GCF has been credited with single handedly keeping the sport alive.
Mohammed, apart from holding the Annual ‘Teach Them Young’ programme at the National Park which is in its 32nd year has been holding events every month at the Park and on the roads. “I think without Hassan’s programmes, cycling would be in a lot of trouble right now, he has really contributed a lot to keep the game going.”
Edwards, a former second division footballer with Santos Football Club as a goalkeeper, underlining his capabilities as a multi talented sportsman was quick to point out that what is lacking in cycling was ‘Team Ability’, and this he believes is sad.
“We need to also be careful with who we co-opt into the cycling fraternity and I’m saying so because recent experience have shown us that not everyone who appear to have an interest in the sport, really has an interest they might have their own personal agendas and to an extent it can actually work to the detriment of the sport.
Generally though, Edwards agrees that they should have done a lot more for cyclists.
“These athletes invest lots of money and time into the game and even if we can’t give back to them in volumes materially, we should at least give them that kind of satisfaction that we are doing all we can for them.”
It is as a result of this kind of disillusioned feeling that we have not been doing enough, that has resulted in quite a few of our senior riders going overseas to race for clubs in Trinidad and Tobago. Edwards is of the view that there are no direct benefits for these riders.
“What they are doing, they are riding for guys older than myself for them to win races, when they can be winning races themselves. It might be paying them now but if someone comes along of a higher caliber, they will loose them.”
This same scenario has happened to one of our leading riders (name withheld) in another country where he was the top rider.

To ensure that the sort is more attractive and riders are better compensated at home, Edwards has said that a number of measures and initiatives would be put in place.
Guyana too, will now be able to benefit from being a member of the Caribbean Cycling Union and now can qualify to compete at the Olympics. Prior to now, this was not possible since we were not fully a member of the body.
“We can now qualify for the Olympics placing at the Caribbean Cycling Union events. In the past we could not do that if we win we could not qualify because we were not officially within the body, we had to qualify from South America against countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia and Argentina.”
Edwards also disclosed that by being a full member of the Caribbean Cycling Union (CCU), Guyana will be able to benefit from the distribution of cycles to member countries which would be a big boost for the sport here.
General Secretary of the GCF Carmen Pertab represented Guyana at the last CCU Annual General Meeting where the matter of membership and benefits were dealt with.
The local governing body will be exploring the possibility of high level training for their athletes in Cuba or the USA.
A more professional approach would be pursued in 2009 with the athletes being the main focus.
Edwards revealed that he has spent too much time at the Federation dealing with conflict resolution as against initiatives like financial investment and resource allocation.
“And this is really bad and it hurts me a lot because too much time is spent resolving conflicts, also there are too few persons who are asked to do too much.”
2009 though, has to be a year where the administrators for the sport put the athletes first and work as a cohesive unit to lift the standards.
Guyana has a cadre of young promising riders whose future must be directed in the right path. The likes of Alonzo Greaves, Christopher Holder and Geron Williams readily comes to mind but the avenues for them to excel must be chartered by administrators who care about and for them.

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