GRFU outlines the way forward

Aug 10, 2010 Sports

President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Christopher ‘Kit’ Nascimento believes that the outstanding performances from the national Sevens team deserves the same attention and possibly more than the Guyana cricket team that recently won the WICB T20 Tournament which qualified them for the Champions League in South Africa.
Nascimento expressed this opinion during a press briefing called to indicate the way forward for the Guyana team that will be competing at the upcoming Commonwealth Games scheduled for Delhi, India from October 3-14.
“I think that we’ve placed Guyana on the world map more often that any other sporting team and we deserve the kind of recognition like the cricket team,” Nascimento said.
He, however, did state hat he was extremely of the cricket team’s performance and hoped that they continue to make the entire country proud. Meanwhile, speaking of Guyana’s preparation for the upcoming tournament in India, Nascimento disclosed that a 5-day camp to sharpen the skills of the Guyanese against higher level opponents is earmarked in addition to a set of competitive games organised by the BOOST Programmes in Loughborough, England when the team arrives there in-transit to India should get the team into high level mode ahead of the Games.
The team is scheduled to commence training today and according to Coach Theodore Henry it will take light workout in the gym at the National Park, before the start of on-field preparations.
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C/Wealth games Table Tennis trials on today at CASH

Michelle John

Christopher Franklyn

Guyana’s Table Tennis Association preparations for October’s Commonwealth games in India are set to begin this afternoon from 18:00hrs at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with the first day of trials.
Sixteen Males and five Females should be involved in today’s trials with the women competing in a round-robin format and the men playing in four rounds of 16 with the winner of each round advancing the ‘final four’ stage of competition.
It is understood that the overseas-based pair of female players Michelle John who is studying in the United States of America (USA) and Trenace Lowe along with the male pair of Paul David and Idi Lewis who are also in the USA have been exempted from today’s trials.
It was indicated that the four, among the country’s leading players, have been joined on the list of exempted players by Christopher Franklyn who recently returned home after representing Guyana at the CAC games.
Those invited to trials are:-Paul Meusa, Jonathon Sankar, Dwayne Gibson, Warren Hackshaw (Group 1), Joel Alleyne, Hewley, Denzil Hopkinson, Jamaal Duff (Group B), Nigel Bryan, Orin Hickserson, Sachin Panday, Zane Humphrey (Group 3), Edinho Lewis, Andre Daley, Denzil Duff, Samuel Fraser (Group 4).
Vida Moore, Ambrose Thomas, Chelsea Edghill, Natalie Cummings and Akecia Nedd will compete in the female trial games.
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Goodwill Swimming C/ships reps receive pep talk from former national swimmer

Yannick Roberts makes a point to his attentive audience during a practice session.

With just one week prior to their departure to the 16th Annual Goodwill Swimming Championships scheduled for Suriname from August 13-15, members of the local swimming team were given a morale boosting pep talk by former national swimmer, Yannick Roberts who is currently home from a Guyana government scholarship in Cuba since 2007.
In a moving recitation, the astute swimmer shared his experiences in the pool with the young swimmers, demonstrating techniques and issuing valuable tips on the technicalities of relay starts.
He further shared his experiences on relaxing techniques just before entering the actual race, telling the young swimmers that they should relax, tell jokes, laugh and generally have fun rather than focusing too heavily on the actual race which in the end could prove counter-productive.
Roberts issued a further caveat to the swimmers, “It is important that you listen to your coaches, parents and teammates but it is just as important that you realize that when the actual race commences, you are alone in your lane and therefore, you will be required to swim your own race, at your own rhythm,” he informed.
The former national champion further touched on the psychological aspects of the sport. “Don’t be afraid when the other swimmers appear bigger and stronger. In fact, when you hear loud cheers from the bigger teams, use that to your advantage,” he said.
He further advised the team to have fun, make jokes and laugh while reminding the more experienced swimmers that they should serve as the guardians of the younger swimmers. “Always encourage each other, whether you are winning or losing,” he advised while suggesting that they listen to music to counteract nervousness.
Roberts also had a few words for the parents. “Always encourage your children irrespective of their level of performance,” he advised. “Say encouraging things from the depths of your heart.”
Roberts further advised parents to encourage instead of quarrel with their children as he feels that this could affect them psychologically. He ended by reminding the swimmers that being a part of the national team should serve as a source of pride even as he expressed confidence that all of the local competitors would go on to make Guyana proud.
Roberts represented Guyana at several Goodwill Championships between 2004-2007 including the Inter-Guiana Games and the FINA World Championships. He was also a member of the U15-17 Boys Relay team that held the Goodwill 4x100m Medley record for two years (2007 to 2009) and the 4x50m Freestyle Relay record, still unbroken since 2007.
The former national champion still holds the national records in the Boys 15-17 200m Individual Medley (2:22.25), garnered in 2007 and Boys 13-14 200m Freestyle which he registered in a time of 2:11.52 in August 2004.