Yassin’s pronouncement on Government’s lack of support is true

Aug 24, 2010 Sports

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By Rawle Welch

Two recent pronouncements reported to be made by President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) K. Juman Yassin must be seen as encouraging and a shift in policy.
Firstly, let me congratulate the GOA President for announcing what is clearly the biggest contingent of athletes and officials combined to leave these shores to represent Guyana at any event for sometime and secondly, I want to personally applaud him for giving this nation the real account of Government’s involvement in the development of sport.
According to a report in the Stabroek News dated Sunday, August 22, the GOA Head severely criticised Government’s lack of financial support for teams travelling to compete at International Games.
The statement made by Yassin which seemed uncharacteristic is long overdue, but must have been said to emphasise the high level of frustration the Body is experiencing due to Government’s uncaring attitude towards our athletes as well as the need for them to begin to give tangible assistance to offset expenses for teams to travel.
The disclosure to my mind only served to vindicate the observations that were written about on so many occasions in some sections of the media in the past. Yassin comments are the truth, but the question is what took him so long to make those remarks is anyone’s guess.
Is it that, the GOA is now seeing the need to talk out due to the fact that they are being left with most of the burden to offset the expenses of athletes, officials and teams or is it a simple case of challenging the Government to do more for sport as it purports to do.
In the case of the former, I presume if the entire burden is left on the GOA then it reduces its ability to provide more services for our athletes, while in the latter, the Government seems to be reneging on its stated commitment and the GOA is probably issuing a reminder to the Government of its obligations.
Every other country closer to home, the Government has made significant financial contributions both for preparations and travel for its athletes, but in our case according to the report, financial support is lacking.
In fairness to the GOA, the funding that they receive from the IOC cannot meet its requirements to get every team and athlete to every overseas competition in addition to offering some assistance to upkeep those based overseas.
Their efforts must be complemented with support from the Government not merely through travel tax waivers, but more substantial contributions to guarantee that those selected to represent this country are well prepared and in the best possible shape to enhance their chances of gaining medals even before departure.
Almost every team that leave these shores do so with little if any assistance from the Government, despite the enormous budgetary allocation.
How could they then expect our athletes to perform with success when the basic necessities are absent?
This is why the Government should put a halt to the rhetoric and begin the process of assisting in the holistic development of sport. As the report mentioned, all of Guyana wins when they do well.
Kaieteur Sport extends best wishes for a successful campaign to all our athletes attending the Commonwealth Games which runs from October 3-14 in Delhi, India.
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D.C Jammers visit Children’s Ward at GPHC

The Washington D.C Jammers basketball team yesterday visited the Children’s Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Complex (GPHC) where they made a presentation to the facility as part of their official annual goodwill visit to Guyana.
The team is currently playing in a three-game series against Guyana. They won the first game last Thursday night and played Game Two last night. The third game is scheduled for tonight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall before they depart tomorrow.
The Federal Management Systems sponsored D.C Jammers forms part of the development thrust of the Guyana national basketball team. The team is responsible for not only sourcing overseas talent for Guyana but also building the fundamentals of Guyana.
Their last tour was in 2007 and because their programme was extended to tours to Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic they were unable to travel to Guyana in 2008 and 2009, but this year the team had placed Guyana high on its priority list of tours.
Their visit to the Georgetown Hospital was part of their humanitarian efforts to ensure that social and community work is part of a holistic approach toward development in sports. The extended their gratitude to the Hospital staff for giving them the opportunity.

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