Letter to the Sports Editor...Where is the respect for the National Women’s Basketball squad Mr. Harry?

Letter to the Sports Editor…Where is the respect for the National Women’s Basketball squad Mr. Harry?

Mar 29, 2015 Sports

Dear Sports Editor,
I am not puzzled or surprised by Mr. Harry’s effort in his letter dated March 28, 2015 in Stabroek News, where Harry tries to justify the disgraceful conduct of his assistant Mr. Bashir Khan who instructed the security guard to take the lights off while the Guyana Women’s Basketball squad were practicing at the Sports Hall on the evening of March 24, 2015.
Mr. Harry was responding to a heavily edited letter published in the Stabroek News on March 26, 2015 and captioned “Lights turned off at CASH while female basketball team training”.
The mentality displayed by the Gervy C. Harry, Admin Officer of the National Sports Commission (NSC) is indicative of the lack of a sports culture in Guyana; as noted by the great Caribbean sprinter, four-time Olympic medal winner and NBC sportscaster Ato Bolton; when at the Sports Management workshop held in Guyana during June 2014, Mr. Bolton emphasized the need for a “culture of sport” if Guyana is to develop and reap success in sports.
Also, we have Presidential Advisor for Youth Empowerment, Mr. Odinga Lumumba noting in a letter carried by Stabroek News dated March 28th, 2015; that “sports lack basic support in Guyana”. I believe the conduct of Bashir Khan and the support given by Gervy Harry is a clear indication that there is no culture of sport in Guyana and that sports do lack basic support in Guyana.
I will not try to dismantle the hollow arguments made by Mr. Harry who seems to use waffle arguments, as he attempts to defend the conduct of his assistant Bashir Khan by referencing a plethora of letters and dates.
Suffice to say, letters written to the NSC for permission to use the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) are invariably subject to change/s. Also, most of the arrangements to use the Sports Hall are done by a phone call or some non-written agreement for a recorded or unrecorded fee.
Harry in his letter notes “It is known by all that the CASH is the only facility of its kind and is in constant use, seven days a week, for various sport disciplines and other activities”, however, when the lights were turned off to prevent the Guyana Women’s National Basketball Squad from practicing; no other activity was scheduled for that evening. And, the National Sports Hall where the first major event was held in 1980, when Guyana hosted the CARICOM Basketball Championships is still the only facility of its kind in Guyana; this underlines in bold, both the lack of a sports culture and that “sports lack basic support in Guyana”.
Having myself spent a few thousand hours practicing basketball at the Sports Hall; I can say without fear of contradiction that lights were never turned off while I trained with the National Basketball Squad or Team to represent Guyana. In fact, players were encouraged to stay on after formal practice hours – to work on areas that would improve their game.
In responding to Harry’ statement from his letter “Respect from all, for all is necessary”, I ask Mr. Harry where is the respect for the ladies who were training in the Guyana Women’s Basketball Squad?
Guyana Men’s Basketball team recently concluded a three game basketball series against Bermuda and the training sessions went on past 10:00 PM on several nights. The magnificent performance of the Guyana Panthers and the enthusiastic support from the Guyanese fans came about partly as a result of the extra hours of training that went beyond 10:00 PM.
The shameful and appalling support given by Mr. Harry, is in of itself a disgrace and is par asinine with the reprehensible instructions given by Mr. Khan to turn off the lights at the National Sports Hall while the Guyana Women’s Basketball squad were still practicing.
I close with the following quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
Nigel Hinds
GABF President

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Letter to the Sports Editor…Where is the respect for the National Women’s Basketball squad Mr. Harry?

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