Guyana’s sports landscape needs a stimulus package

Oct 13, 2015 Sports

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By Rawle Welch

Despite failing to qualify for next year’s Pan Am Cup scheduled to be played in the USA from

August 19-27, the performance of Guyana’s national stickmen clearly shows that they are narrowing the gap between them and the best countries in the Caribbean and South America.
Guyana finished fourth at the just concluded Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) Pan Am Challenge, drawing with the top three finishers in regulation time, before losing in shootouts, perhaps a department of the game that Head Coach Robert Fernandes will have to place more emphasis on going forward.
In describing the team’s outstanding performance, it is obvious that had it benefitted from a substantial injection of funding coupled with a higher level of coaching expertise (no disrespect for the magnificent job that the Head Coach had done) and preparatory games against the top regional teams as a start, this team would have been going to the Pan Am Cup in the USA.
However, with just the top two teams qualifying, Guyana will now have to wait for another opportunity to play against higher ranked teams outside the Pan Am Challenge.
Guyana drew with eventual champions Brazil in the Group stage and then battled to a similar result against beaten finalist Venezuela in the semi-finals, all in regulation time, before holding Uruguay to a 2-2 stalemate in the third place playoff, but sadly on all three occasions lost in the penalty shootouts.
While the extent of funding that Venezuela and Uruguay receive is not known, we know that Brazil has been getting substantial backing from the Brazilian Hockey Confederation, Brazilian Olympic Committee and the FIH following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), during the SportAccord meeting in London on April 5, 2011.
According to the MOU,’all parties agree that the hosting of the Olympic Games in Rio presents an ideal opportunity to develop hockey in Brazil and that it is in the best interests of Brazilian hockey and the sport worldwide if there are two Brazilian teams in the Olympics in 2016.
For the most part, the activites outlined in the MOU are directed towards helping to develop the high performance system in Brazil and raise the calibre of play of Brazil’s top level players such that Brazilian teams can participate and field a competitive squad in the 2016 Games.
Key among the activities of the MOU is an agreement to hire a top level High Performance Director who will develop and co-ordinate the various elements of the high performance system as well as work with Brazilian coaches and athletes.
On the developmental side, the FIH has made a commitment to seek much-needed donations of sticks, balls and goal-keeping equipment from sponsors over a two year period’.
The lament for an artificial turf is well documented and its prolonged absence has severely hampered the development of the sport.
Had the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) resign itself to the current state of affairs regarding the absence of such a facility then performances such as the recent one and those of the Ladies not so long ago would not have been secured.
It was the foresight of the GHB leadership combined with the determination of coaches and players that has made us (Guyana) an emerging force in the sport in the Caribbean and beyond.
With a new administration in place, and one that has signaled its intention to place sports on the front burner, there are a few disciplines that need immediate attention inclusive of substantial funding.
The hockey fraternity has paid its dues, it has worked tirelessly to keep the sport alive, but not merely, rather it has taken off, the successes has increased enthusiasm among clubs and more and more young players are joinging clubs.
The current President of the GHB Philip Fernandes was instrumental in getting both the FIH President FIH President Leandro Negre and the PAHF President Alberto ‘Coco’ Budeisky to make an historic visit in May this year and in their interaction with the media, had said that a piece of land was the only obstacle preventing Guyana from securing an artificial turf.
Imagine in a country where land is abundant, another discipline that could put Guyana, at minimum, on the regional sports map is being deprived of such a vital component.
Come on stakeholders, just like what President Obama did during the economic recession of 2007-09, Guyana’s sports landscape needs a stimulus package to take it to the next level.
A huge injection of funds to construct state of the art facilities in addition to the whole gamut of related pieces to produce elite teams and athletes is what is needed right now.
It will be interesting to see how the team will be treated on its return and what steps will be taken to ensure that it stays together.

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