Sports Editorial: Govt. funding is crucial and facilities enormously important

Mar 23, 2015 Sports

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Commendations are in order for the National Basketball team and Coach Darcell Harris.
These gentlemen did an excellent job in making Guyana proud, beating Bermuda 3-0 in a friendly international basketball series used by both teams as preparation for upcoming engagements.
Kaieteur Sports’ Edison Jefford called the play and in his reports gave an excellent indication of how the team faced the challenge presented by the Bermudans and how Harris and his team handled the situation and overcame.
Jefford explained that the strategy devised by the Guyana coaching staff was the ‘run at the much bigger opposition’ forcing mistakes, tiring them out and capitalizing which was clinically done and the result so spoke.
Harris has always been an exceptional player and has transitioned into an excellent coach. The old adage ‘offence is the best defence’ worked for the home boys.
In martial arts and other fighting sports it is said that a fight is 60 or more percent mental and the rest physical. It simply says, once you can control the way you opponent operates you can win the battle.
The Guyanese lads were in good physical shape and coming up with a suitable strategy and following it to the letter speaks volumes.
Sport in the outer world is big business. Our Caribbean counterparts Jamaica has for some time learnt the value of sports and are reaping the rewards in more ways than one.
Key to their success, apart from the desire and talent of the athletes, is the support of the Jamaican Government who have thrown tangible or financial support which the private sector have mirrored, hence a thriving sports culture and world class athletes in our sister Caribbean country.
What about Guyana? We have heard much ado about nothing from many government officials in the not too distant past but the evidence of a properly thought out programme and policy to really harness the talent we so obviously possess have been sadly lacking.
Talk is cheap, that will go well with the telephone company but to really reap the rewards of the business called sports hard cash and the requisite planning is most essential.
ESPN TV has a segment on Sports Science, explaining the dynamics of several amazing feats on the various playing field athletes make.  It takes research, funding and training of the relevant personnel to make an athlete or team into a winning unit.
Kaieteur Sports Senior Journalist Rawle Welch in an article carried in the March 10th edition of this newspaper headlined, ‘Appalling treatment of amazing athletes’, noted the appalling treatment meted out to the National Rugby players despite maintaining being the best in the Caribbean for several years. One wonders what more must these talented boys do to get the support they truly deserve.
I will not regurgitate Mr Welch’s sentiments; you can check it out and see what he says for yourself. My purpose in penning this missive to aimed at hopefully goading those responsible in making the right moves to ensure success in our sports and truly make it into a business.
The possibilities are endless. I hope many of our thin-skinned officials don’t be offended and chastise the messenger rather than taking the message into context and act to suit.
I opened this piece with the excellent work of the basketballers and mentioned the rugby players, there is the Golden Jaguars who are making a rebound, efforts must be made by the respective associations or federations to ensure their coaches are frequently upgraded in their abilities, even sourcing outside help where necessary and possible to boost the technical and tactical knowledge of their coaches. Olympic Solidarity has a wealth of programmes on offer, just go to its website or link with the Guyana Olympic Association.
However, government funding is crucial, facilities extremely important. What about those lotto funds? Just asking.
There are a few sporting facilities (Sports Hall, Gymnasium, Athletics track, Stadium, Swimming pool) but is access for athletes to use them to train readily available?  Does the government give grants or budget monies to aid the various national sports teams?
The Jamaicans do, look at their athletics, netball, football just to name a few. Individual athletes have gone on to ink lucrative contracts with Puma and other major sports players.
The Reggae Boyz, Jamaica’s football team recently signed a kit deal worth US$4.8M with Romai Sportswear of Dubai.
Why must teams representing this country run around with a begging bowl to get funds to travel to overseas competition?  Why must players struggle to get time off to train and after proving themselves not be rewarded?  I must commend the cricket board for introducing the retainer contract system.
But most of the other associations cannot afford same; this is where government funding is key. With all the money going around, can’t some be set aside with a vision of capitalizing on the sports tourism initiative?
While we may not have those exquisite beaches as our Caribbean counterparts, we have a beauty like none other and places people will fork out good dollars to come see, but only if it’s marketed properly and a specific plan for sports tourism is put in place.
Where is the think-thank to stratigise and come up with ideas to exploit this treasure chest or are their attention so focused otherwise they can’t see the potential right in plain sight.
Create a product and people will buy. I have friends and family who would come here and as we say, ‘lick down’ for our rum and beer because it is of excellent quality. That didn’t happen overnight…so what about a proper sports programme.
And by the way, what about the Sports Policy document…in the absence proper systems and policies sports seems to be left in a vacuum going nowhere in a hurry.  Wake up sports officials, be it government and otherwise.

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