President’s/Jefford Classic III succeeded on many levels

Jun 06, 2012 Sports

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– Jefford says goal is always to keep improving  

By Juanita Hooper
The recently held President’s/Jefford Track and Field Classic III in the Bauxite Mining Town of Linden was one of many successes with the exception of the adverse weather, which did not at all affect the completion  of the meet owed to the dedication of both athletes and officials.
Co-Coordinator of the President’s/Jefford Classic, Edison Jefford, a former National Schools’ Champion, stated in an exclusive interview with Kaieteur Sport that the Classic had more highs than lows.
“In fact, the only low would be that we did not have perfect weather to support the excellent systems we had set up. We had no control over the weather, but we still managed to pull off a remarkable meet in those circumstances,” he said.
The former athlete, who is also a Sports Journalist attached to this newspaper, related his view of the historic Classic.
“Overall, my view on the Classic is that we succeeded on many different levels; we created history with hosting the most international athletes at a single meet, we broke new ground with the increased interests of corporate Guyana and we made a statement in Linden with hundreds turning out to the event in not the best of conditions, which suggested that the President’s/Jefford Classic is becoming a household product in Guyana and in Linden,” he continued.
According to Jefford, the meet has seen major improvements especially in the monetary awards, which amounted to $1.2M in cash prizes. “We have improved the momentary awards from giving out a total of $850,000 in cash to giving out $1,200,000 in cash prizes.”
Jefford also noted that individual medals for each race, which was not in place in the first two years of the Classic was made available with the increased international athletes’ participation adding to major improvements, “We have systemised the various technical aspects necessary to make the meet reflect an international image and for the first time, we attracted the international media that will be profiling some of our athletes ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games. We forged local partnerships with corporate companies that could see local athletes becoming the face of products in new marketing initiatives.”
In addition to that, he said that athletes may be given one of the most important opportunities for next Classic as it relates to individual rewards of cash prizes for their outstanding performances. “We are looking at giving cash prizes to individual races in addition to medals. We have been giving cash prizes to just the international races, but we may extend that to every individual event. We may not be able to give the amount we give for the international races, but we are looking at what may be possible based on our projected budget,” he informed, adding that they are always looking at ways of improving the meet.
Jefford also highlighted that things will be put in place to allow the meet to be an established IAAF Calendar event.
Boldly stating that the Classic will not be moved from Linden, as the community has spoken and has established the meet as a signature event for them, Jefford disclosed that a feasible study have been launched to ascertain when is the best period in terms of weather, to host the meet, and that “most of the discussions now is surrounding July/August.”
Questioning him about the meet being held twice a year (in Linden and at Leonora) as Guyana is expecting its first ever synthetic track, Jefford declared that the extended vision of the President’s/Jefford Classic would be to see Linden benefit from its own synthetic facility as sport still has to be decentralised to give communities equal opportunities.
“I think the purpose of the synthetic track is being misrepresented. The synthetic track is being looked at as the ultimate Saviour for local athletics and that is not true. It is a facility being built to give local athletes a place to refine their abilities. It must be known that absolutely nothing is wrong with training and competing on grass surfaces. The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, trains on grass. I say that to indicate that one of the serious disadvantages the synthetic track could face is overuse.  Remember, sport still has to be decentralised to give every community equal opportunities. I am sure that other meets will be created for the synthetic track, but the extended vision of the President’s/Jefford Classic is to see Linden benefit from its own synthetic facility,” Jefford posited.
Asking about the Classic being a two day meet to the ease the pressure from the athletes especially those competing in more than two events, which have preliminary rounds, Jefford disclosed that the issue is seriously on the mind of the President of Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Colin Boyce, “…however, we have to look at all the logistics, transportation and accommodation being the two major factors. It is important that we perfect the one day event before we experiment with two days and Mr. Boyce is very aware of that fact, but that is not to say that we won’t take the two-day event into consideration.”
Asked if there will be the possibility of an international field event athlete for the next Classic to compete against Guyana’s best long and triple jumpers, Jefford said “maybe Pan Am Junior bronze medallist, Rolyce Boston to compete against Winston Caesar, Leon Bishop and the others, but that is still in its infancy, we have not discussed that seriously.”
In closing, Jefford expressed his gratitude to Guyana’s Bigger, Better Network, Digicel, their primary sponsor, for their commitment toward the development of the meet and thanked all those who proved that the President’s/Jefford Classic has a permanent place.

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