Another emphatic statement was made on Friday

May 02, 2010 Sports

By Rawle Welch
The capacity crowd that showed up at the National Stadium to witness the start of the ICC T20 World Cup played among the top nations in cricket must have made another emphatic statement to the Administrators of sport here.
Guyana have fallen from grace as one of the premier sporting nations in the Caribbean, however it has never relinquished its place as having the most passionate followers of sport in these parts.
This kind of unconditional support is perhaps the chief reason why we are still able to be listed in the reckoning whenever the WICB sits down to choose which countries will be allotted matches for scheduled tours to the West Indies.
We could also look at the unrivalled support sports such as motor racing and football garner and you will see that we have some of the most ardent fans in the region.
This is despite the limited facilities that are available and those that fall short of the standard requirement for hosting international events.
No doubt, the National Stadium is amongst the best in the region and according to a few commentators, the venue has earned the respect of many such persons in the world.
If we have more facilities of this nature, we could play host to more international competitions which could then produce the kind of encouraging spin-offs that will be beneficial to us.
It could become the fillip for economic and social transformation leading to positive development for this country.
Many countries in the Caribbean and even further a-field point to sports as being responsible for a large percentage of support in the hotel industry, while the production of high class athletes combined with state-of-the-art facilities ultimately facilitates economic expansion.
In Guyana, there is an urgent need for the main stakeholders responsible for the advancement of sports to pay heed to what was seen on Friday.
We are scheduled to host the CAC Sevens Rugby Championship in addition to the NACRA Tournament and no effort should be spared to get the Stadium filled.
The large attendance at motor racing and football over the years is a clear indication that we are begging for more international exposure and this could be attained in almost every sport, but the scarcity of top-class venues continues to be the hindrance.
One could just imagine the kind of frenzy a synthetic track or artificial turf could create or even a more improved indoor facility.
Work on the eagerly anticipated Olympic-size swimming pool is on-going and even though the sport is not a high-profile one, it is welcomed and hopefully it will serve its rightful purpose which is to get our swimmers to the level where we could compete with the rest of the Region.
Let us use this support for sports to our advantage, to gain economic and social growth and this could be done through the acquisition of more facilities that will encourage the hosting of more international competitions.

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Another emphatic statement was made on Friday

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