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Greene says AAG will not change after Blackmore
– vows to quit if dreams not realised this year
By Edison Jefford
Guyana’s leading national sprint champion, Rawle Greene has stated that the departure of Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) head, Claude Blackmore, will not change the administration of local track and field.
Rawle Greene
Greene was speaking to Kaieteur Sport following Blackmore’s revelation that he is set to bring his 18–year–old reign as AAG President to an end on January 20 when the body is expected to hold its Annual General Meeting.
Blackmore has stated that he will not be seeking re–election but Greene believes that real change can only happen in the sport if the entire AAG Council follows Blackmore through the door since they are his protégés.
“I don’t think it (his departure) will effect change in the sport; Blackmore is not the AAG Council. He will depart but someone I guess that he trained will take his place,” the current national male sprint champion said.
The outgoing AAG boss has been constantly blamed for the underperformance of the discipline in Guyana but his rebuttal has been consistent and that is that Governments are responsible for facilities and not associations.
The absence of a synthetic track here has seriously put this nation at a disadvantage, especially when the inaugural Caribbean Games is just months away and several local athletes are looking to adequately prepare.
Claude Blackmore
“He (Blackmore) has not been doing enough for athletes in terms of priority athletes; they operate like if the athletes has done them something but I hope that will all change soon or my boots will go into my cabinet,” Greene warned.
The athlete described this year as a ‘make or break’ year and vowed to quit the sport entirely if nothing significant happens at both the administrative and competitive levels for him in his eighteenth year on the track.
Blackmore’s AAG and Greene have not enjoyed the best of relationships during that time where Greene was overlooked for international meets on several occasions with the AAG opting for foreign representatives instead.
His professional career faced many set backs that range from the lack of a consistent corporate sponsor to shortage of facilities in Guyana where he is based. The top athlete is however adamant that he will overcome.
Greene hopes that the new AAG head and General Council will have a more professional approach to local athletes and that senior athletes will be made a priority ahead of the 2009 Caribbean Games in Trinidad and Tobago.
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