What was the real reason Guyana’s female footballers missed the IGG?

Mar 26, 2010 Sports

Dear Editor,
Mike Leavitt once said “There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve.”
Sir, I would like to respond to two articles which were published in the Daily Chronicle on Tuesday March 23 and Kaieteur News on Wednesday March 24, 2010 respectively. These articles dealt specifically with Guyana’s inability to field a female football team to attend the Inter Guiana Games that will be held in French Guiana.
Mr. Editor the reasons given by the honorable Director of Sports are unacceptable.
One of the dailies indicated that the players selected to represent Guyana were all from the Ancient County. With all due respect to the female players from the East, how can the authorities take these girls to embarrass themselves and the Country again?
My good friend admitted that the team was weak and they would not have reached the standard. How can a team reach the standard if they are given limited time to train? Last year the exact same team represented Guyana, is this a truly Guyana representative team, I wonder what is the objective, I really wonder.
It is public knowledge that the Lady Jags (Guyana Female National Team) qualified for the next round of games in the World Cup Qualifier. Last December an overseas based Guyana Team and a local Guyana Team both defeated Suriname’s Senior National Team and you know what, the local Guyana Team had about ten (10) players who are eligible to represent Guyana at the Inter Guiana Games.
Lethem had about six (6) players. Bartica, Georgetown, Linden, Kwakwani, East Bank and the East Coast all have Under-19 players. Yet the Director of Sport said that this country is not strong in junior women’s football, what authority he has to make such statements. Those types of statements should be left to the competent authority to pronounce on.
The GFF was approached to be a part of the process but after the Department of Sports was given the “real” cost and a proper training programme they opted out saying it was too expensive. Mr. Editor it is either you are pregnant or not, you can’t be half pregnant. I am convinced that they did not want to take the team to French Guyana. Guyana female football is on a roll let us capitalise on it.
Last year the GFF held an Inter Association Tournament and I saw in excess of 30 players who are Under-19 participating. From this tournament the Local Guyana Team was selected to participate in the December Tournament. Berbice occupied the cellar position in that tournament. Yet the public was told that the team could not get passports and such flimsy excuses. Mr. Editor, are we making sport with sports?
Mr. Minister of Sports and Mr. Permanent Secretary, you two are great gentlemen who are sincerely interested in developing sports but you guys have to shed the unnecessary burden who will continue to embarrass this Nation.
Mr. Editor I can go on and on and expose the deficiency in the press statement but time and space do not permit me at this time. However, in closing I would like it to be known to the public that if the correct effort was made Guyana could have been represented at the games and they would have won the tournament handsomely.
Lawrence “Sparrow” Griffith

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What was the real reason Guyana’s female footballers missed the IGG?

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