The paradigm has shifted in sports in the Caribbean

Jun 19, 2014 Sports

– Says Jackson as Sports Management Workshop starts

Jamaican Olympic silver medalist, Grace Jackson stated yesterday that the paradigm in

Some of the participants pay rapt attention during yesterday’s opening of the Sports Management Workshop at the National Resource Centre, Woolford Avenue.

sports in the region has shifted and Guyana is not a part of the new dispensation, as she outlined the need for the ongoing Sports Management Workshop.
Jackson was speaking at the request of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport at yesterday’s opening of the Sports Management Workshop at the National Sports Resource Center, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.
“We have spent the last two and a half months really putting together, researching and planning how it is we were going to help this group, because the paradigm has already shifted in sports in the Caribbean,” Jackson observed.
“The question is: ‘do I see Guyana in the shift?’ I did not see Guyana in the shift, and so it was clear to me, recognising the need to have this kind of workshop, that we must be able to help you sport administrators effect the changes that are needed,” she added.
Addressing dozens of participants, Jackson, who won a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, said she was happy with the turnout, noting that it signaled a clear indication of interest among persons who want to help develop sports in Guyana.
In giving a brief description of the methodology of the workshop, Jackson said participants will be placed in groups, and will be given the opportunity to discover ways of ensuring the growth and development of sports here.
“We are prepared to work with you; you will be selected into teams; we want you to start putting on your thinking caps and we’re going to ask you to get out of the box. So I’m going to ask you to start thinking outside your normal parameters,” she implored.
Jackson told the group to “break down (those) chains as we prepare for the next two and a half days.” The Jamaican track and field icon will be headlining the workshop along with Trinidad & Tobago’s former athletics superstar, Ato Boldon.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, endorsed the views of Jackson, stating that the workshop provides the perfect opportunity for local administrators to think about new ideas, which can ultimately lead to an expansion of the various disciplines.
President of the Guyana Olympic Association, K.A. Juman Yassin lauded the Ministry for hosting the workshop and securing the services of such distinguished sportspersons to share their knowledge and expertise.
Both Anthony and Yassin implored on the participants to return to their various sectors and disciplines to share the knowledge garnered during the three-day event, since withholding such information would defeat the purpose of having the workshop.
Participants of the clinic have been drawn from all three counties, and apart from Jackson and Boldon, the other facilitators include Dr. Karen Pilgrim, June Rudder, Christopher Nascimento, Michelle Johnson, Franklin Wilson, Jacqueline James and Olympian Cathy Rattray Samuels.