A game of musical chairs

Apr 01, 2009 Sports

By Rawle Welch

How many Guyanese know the name Larry Romany? Well, he holds the same office as our own K. A. Juman Yassin. He is the President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Association (TTOC).

Since assuming the Presidency, Romany has done everything within his scope to assist the development of sports and athletes in Trinidad and Tobago.

Sometime ago, Romany said he had no sympathy with those who are victimised by administrators because in large part, no one was willing to do anything to remove the same administrators.

He added that there was general lack of management skill among the 32 associations under the TTOC. He was of the view that no administration should have more than two terms or eight years in charge, because they were bringing nothing new in terms of ideas to the table.

According to Romany, many associations play a game of musical chairs, where the same people assume different positions, and largely, the same administration remain in place.

“People have set up a structure that locks them in for life. But, that is because when the time comes for meeting, no one turns up. Nobody wants to go to a meeting and say we voting out the ‘hero’ there. We just want to complain,” said Romany, who further added, “that a lot of people don’t want to stand on their own two feet, but instead prefer to depend on the powers that be”.

Those observations by the TTOC Head can be attributed to almost every sporting institution in Guyana and it sounded as though he was referring to the status quo here.

As the experienced sports administrator pointed out, if the rotation of the same set of personnel continues to be the order of the day, it makes it quite difficult to garner real progress in the establishment and therefore the growth of athletes becomes stagnated.

Just look at the performances of entities such as the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA), the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), just to name a few and make the judgement for yourselves.

The GLTA’s executive has almost remained the same for a number of years except for a few changes and because of a lack of ideas and interest from the core leaders; the sport is hanging on the brink of extinction.

Could you believe, a sport which is known to attract persons such as business executives and other influential members of society, has been hosting a maximum of two tournaments per year?

Now how can you desire development where the sport is not adequately visible and this is not to say more cannot be done, so what are the reasons that keep certain executives clutching onto power despite the public pronouncements that the job is just a voluntary one.

Well, then relinquish the office and be prepared to give those who’re more willing to commit their time to improve the image and achievability of the sport.

The GABF is in the same mess; here is an organisation that has done nothing to promote the game locally, but instead has created an image that could further tarnish the sport.

Its leadership seems incapable of providing the injection the sport sorely needs, but still the powers that be continue to hold the reigns with an iron fist which has forced previous supporters to turn away from the game.

Another organisation which has not done enough is the GOA.

When you compare ours with counterparts in the region, you will immediately see areas of failure.

First of all, let’s take T&T as an example; TTOC has been able to establish a cordial and beneficial relationship with the Government in relation to the support for athletes, teams etc.

Then there is the hunger by the TTOC to get all the necessary assistance both regionally and internationally for the nation’s top sportsmen and women and this is backed up by financial support so that athletes could now concentrate on training exclusively and not be burdened by having to solicit sponsorship and daily existence as they seek to make the country proud by their achievements.

Every conceivable area for an athlete’s holistic development is explored and

made available and it is not restricted to the foreign-based ones, but those locally-based as well.

In a recent interview with this paper, local athletes Rawle Greene and Alisha Fortune lamented the treatment of local athletes even as they prepare to make an attempt to qualify to represent Guyana at the inaugural Caribbean Games, citing the lack of support for them.

They are not the only ones suffering from this insensitivity, but many more who’re engaged in other endeavours.

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A game of musical chairs

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