Intestinal fortitude must be demonstrated to inject new blood

Sep 02, 2012 Sports

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By Rawle Welch
‘From now to Brazil’ has now become one of the more laudable pronouncements made recently by Director of Sport Neil Kumar, who spearheaded a Meeting involving a few Sports Associations on Friday morning, at the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sport.
According to the dailies, the Director urged all the related Associations to work together with the Government so that Guyana could endeavor to present a more formidable contingent at the 2016 Rio Games.
The fact that the Director has seen it fit to initiate the call to meet with the various Associations to plan the way forward is a new and necessary development and one could only hope that the discussions among a section of stakeholders are sincere and not just as was stated in a previous article a sham in response to the plethora of critiques that emanated following Guyana’s dismal showing at the just concluded London Olympics.
No one could seriously disagree with the Director’s attempt to engage the Heads of the Associations to formulate Plans that could place this country’s athletes in the best possible position to replicate or even surpass the achievements of our Caribbean counterparts, but even with the best intentions, if persons with the requisite knowledge are excluded as has occurred in the past, all the well intended plans are doomed to fail.
We’ve seen in the past the undesired results of projects and plans that did not have the input of relevant stakeholders and many examples of such unilateral approaches can be identified.
In times gone by, the Media was chided for not offering advice to the overseers of sport here, so in an effort to eradicate that notion here are a few suggestions that the crucial stakeholders could work with for a start.
First of all, there must be a national consultative forum which will include all the stakeholders in sport and this has become imperative following the abysmal results and the absence of new initiatives by the current set of administrators.
When that is done, a committee with representation from all the stakeholders formed to evaluate and report on the findings of the Forum and a national document produced which will serve as a Policy Paper to fast track the development of Sport on a national level with priority given to those disciplines that have done well in international competitions.
Just involving national associations that have been administered by Managers who for a number of years seemed devoid of initiatives to encourage and advance athletes development will only lead to more disappointment.
There must be a demonstration of intestinal fortitude to inject new blood in the current system since that has become a mandatory component which could determine success or more letdowns.
Of note, however, is the conspicuous silence from the subject Minister, who unlike his Regional counterparts, has uttered nothing in relation to Guyana’s showing at the Olympics or even given insight into the short, medium or long term thinking of his Ministry on the way forward for sporting success.
His silence could lead to many speculations, and he, as the individual responsible for Sport, must make an immediate announcement on his Ministry’s plans and by extension the Government’s.
Most of the other countries’ Ministers have already spoken and outlined their strategies and he must appreciate that as the Chief Official acting on behalf of the Government, his remarks are pertinent to the way forward and crucial for the nation’s understanding of how serious Sport will be treated.
As the Director said “Dismal performances must now be relegated from to our history” (Kaieteur News, September 1) and he must know that that includes the National Sports Commission, The Ministry of Sport, the Guyana Olympic Association and all underperforming Associations.
This country first participated in the Olympics in 1948 as British Guiana, before doing so as Guyana in 1968, and has one medal a bronze by Michael Parris in boxing to date, but for some inexplicable reason the sport (boxing) was never given the kind of support that, perhaps, would have secured more medals for us since the 1980 Moscow Games.
On the contrary, the Olympic record of Jamaica shows that their athletes have always showed progress in athletics, mainly in the track events, and in their first Olympic showing in 1948, Arthur Wint brought home gold for his country in the men’s 400m, with compatriot Herb McKenley winning the silver in the same event.
But for a 16-year dry spell during the period 1952-1968, the Jamaican athletes have always won medals at the Olympics, with Usain Bolt being the product of a comprehensive sports training programme that has produced successful athletes throughout the decades.
The hosting of a National Consultative Forum could determine which sports give us the best chance of medaling and which should be treated with priority and even underline the genuineness of the major stakeholders.

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