Change has finally come

Jan 18, 2009 Sports

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– but more hard times ahead

By Edison Jefford
Change has finally come. It seems as though that refrain that launched President–elect of the United States, Barack Obama into the White House in this epoch, is the pervasive theme for administrations across the world.
While not as politically entrenched as the analogy above, change has finally come for all those who believed that athletics in Guyana deserved better during the eighteen years that Claude Blackmore was at the helm.
The embattled, long–standing President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) will not be seeking re–election to that office when the association holds the historical Annual General Meeting (AGM) today.
Make no mistake about it; Blackmore is perhaps the most trained local athletics official in various aspects of the discipline, which puts the association at a great disadvantage and which should have never happened.
I will return to that point after the background of Blackmore’s departure from the ‘gravy train’ is put in place. To say the least, he has not enjoyed favour with the Government of Guyana, athletes and other stakeholders.
Apart from the rift between Blackmore and National Director of Sport, Neil Kumar that ultimately stymied the growth of the sport, his leadership and decision making ability was constantly placed under pressure.
For instance, questions like why more local athletes did not benefit from scholarships and why developmental programmes were not advanced in an aggressive pursuit, remains eminent in the minds of stakeholders.
The bottom line is that athletics declined under Blackmore, the hundreds and sometimes thousands that flocked the sport in the 70s and 80s disappeared in the 90s under the stewardship of this very well–trained official.
The public relations and marketing machinery of the sport collapsed and many of the decisions of the association were questionable and even unjustifiable. Blackmore took the sport down an oblivious path.
The two most recent examples that comes to mind is the selection of Manhattan College Coach, Joe Ryan as Guyana’s National Coach to the Olympic Games last year and the selection of the lowly–ranked Oslyn Collins.
Nothing is wrong with the selection of both individuals at varying levels but the manner of their selection and Blackmore’s blatant deception that followed highlighted facts that dominated his leadership of the AAG.
After this newspaper broke the news of Ryan’s selection as National Coach, questioning why our local coaches were not given the opportunity, Blackmore came out publicly in another section of the print media and denied the selection.
His denial prompted the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) to host an immediate press conference where Blackmore was literally ‘put out to dry’. GOA supported the selection and made it clear that Blackmore was involved.
The matter just required forthrightness and a defence of the decision from the outgoing President but instead he lied and the GOA did not spare him. The issue obviously put him at odds with the local Olympic authority.
At this year’s GOA AGM, Blackmore lost his seat as Vice–President to Secretary of the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association, Karen Pilgrim. My grandmother would have said he lost ‘cutlass and guana’ in the process.
Following his renouncement of Ryan, this newspaper secured an exclusive interview with Ryan, who spoke about his pleasure of serving local athletics at the Olympic Games and the prospects of Aliann Pompey at the event.
With that issue aside, the AAG then wrapped itself in further imbroglio when they sent Collins to the World Youth Championships in Poland. A move that almost cost better candidates like Alika Morgan their careers.
While she has room for development because of her age, Collins’ performance during a stint in Trinidad and Tobago was well below par. She finished last in every race in times that were clearly disparate internationally.
Yet the AAG picked up this athlete and sent her to be embarrassed in Poland. Many such decisions marked Blackmore’s presidency, including his failure to advance the careers of senior sprinters Rawle Greene and Alisha Fortune.
Now back to how well he was trained. Blackmore could walk away from the association with some amount of ease because he has secured himself internationally and in the regional administration of track and field.
Blackmore holds other senior posts in the South American bloc, which only attest to his exposure. His departure from the top of the local administration will definitely put the new management in an unfounded quandary.
The AAG Council is to be blamed. This group of decision makers should have ensured that others benefit from training so that in the event of times like these, there are persons equipped to function effectively in the future.
It was also Blackmore’s responsibility to ensure that he has an understudy but the tactic is clear: he has put himself in a commanding position after garnering sufficient knowledge on the international and regional fronts. The new President will find it difficult to ignore Blackmore entirely because no one else, apart from maybe, Pamela Phillips, is as trained as him. The presidency of the association requires technical knowledge from training.
If there are sweeping changes today at the elections, the new Council will further be at a lost because of the same reason. The AAG should have exposed more individuals to training across the board–clubs and schools.
The microscopic approach of the association threatens to backfire. The clarion song for Blackmore’s departure is over–sung, now the question that faces stakeholders is who is fit to replace him? It is a shame but it was also deliberate.
The road ahead for local athletics is dark. It was a sinister start under Blackmore and will get darker after he departs. Just as Obama asked for time to realise the effects of change, the new AAG administration needs time to perform.

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