A man with astute vision

Oct 25, 2015 Sports

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Clifton Hicken plans to take ‘Command’ of football in the city

By Michael Benjamin
Following months of hard work, Chairman of the (GFF) Normalization Committee, Clinton Urling, is currently putting the final modalities in place for a smooth transition of the Presidency of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in the football fraternity when elections are held Wednesday 18 November.

As if on cue, affiliates of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) convened last Saturday afternoon for their Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Sleepin Hotel, Brickdam. Two aspirants, Christopher Matthias, a former President of the GFF and Police Commander (A Division), Clifton Hicken, presented themselves as the appropriate persons for the job after securing the requisite nominations. A stiff battle was envisaged but expectations evaporated during the meeting after Mathias took issue with several disparities in the voting process. Mr. Urling quickly dispelled those contentions and went ahead with the meeting whereby, Mr. Hicken prevailed.
Many will associate Mr. Hicken’s name with policing and his ability to maintain law and order is well documented. Naturally, many are questioning his competency in the football arena. For this reason Kaieteur Sport endeavored to delve into Mr. Hicken’s cranium to extract his thoughts and projections for the sport and most importantly, for the good of the game.
“I realize that there are many that only know of me through policing but I’ve always been a football enthusiast,” pronounced Mr. Hicken when the question was posed to him. He further pointed out that he was no rookie after representing the Guyana Police Force (GPF) at the 1st and 2nd Division level. “I know the ropes and am certain that I will be an asset to football administration,” he declared.
Perception and reality are two opposite concepts yet they can easily be confused and misinterpreted as one and the same. There is a perception that the new President can be overwhelmed by the administrative styles of his predecessors which could have an overriding effect on his ability to effect the requisite policy changes. Mr. Hicken does not share this view; “He that dwelleth in the past will only repeat similar errors in the future,” he philosophically pronounced. He said that he has no intention of regurgitating past ills but to forge ahead with a developmental plan for the sport. I have earned the confidence of the electorate and given a mandate to implement developmental strategies for the sport and I intend to employ a systematic, collective and all inclusive approach in addressing this function,” said the new President.
Mr. Hicken further said that he plans to work with all stakeholders in the realization of common goals for the sport’s advancement.
“I plan to work in a structured way with existing teams, not only around Central Georgetown, but in the interior and other rural districts,” explained Mr. Hicken. Top of his agenda is the strengthening of the school programmes through collaboration with the subject Ministries (both education and sports) to institute the mechanisms for a regular half yearly programme. “Currently, and as a start, I am contemplating about 25 schools in the start-up phase,” he projected.
There has been a public outcry over the treatment meted out to past stalwarts whose inputs would have laid a strong foundation for their successors. Mr. Hicken said that this area of development is one of his prime interests. I believe our past stalwarts have a lot to offer and I plan to engender their input, not just through their involvement in actual games but in leadership experience,” pronounced Mr. Hicken. He said that such strategies will include mentorship sessions where the past stalwarts will actually interact with contemporary players in the communities to mold them into good rounded individuals. These past players will also act as guides even as they share experiences to prepare the young brigade for the challenges ahead.
It is commonly accepted that the best plans are thwarted by inadequate funding.  Mr. Hicken said that he has great plans for the progression of the sport and will put systems in place to ensure the acquisition of adequate financial support. “I’ve given keen thought to this area and plan to collaborate with the corporate sector to encourage tangible support, while improving relations with this group,’ he said.
With a plethora of responsibilities and commitments, the Police Commander is a very busy man and even as we were engaged in discussions he was getting ready to host his inaugural meeting with recently elected executives. “We will be discussing the installation of a two years plan with an objective of instigating growth among the various teams to facilitate a qualitative bunch of players that will be poised for (sports) ambassadorial representation of this country,” a confident Hicken exhorted.
He also said that his executives will prioritize the itinerary to match their objectives. Another top priority of the GFA boss is to run off the 1st Division League tournament as well as the usual year end extravaganza usually staged in December.
The Commander was elected to foster betterment within the football fraternity and he feels that such strategies ought not to be concentrative on just football activities. As such, he is bent on the implementation of an all-round developmental strategy that will produce rounded players to contribute to the developmental plan. “Even before the elections I had done an environmental scan, through the social crime prevention programme, and I detected tremendous talent in the communities just waiting to be nurtured. I plan to have discussions with the other elected members of the executive to implement strategies to achieve this goal,” said the new GFA boss.
Even as Mr. Hicken speak of an all-inclusive plan, this writer wondered aloud of his willingness to work with the former executive body or even his nemesis, Christopher Matthias, “I plan to engage (all) of the previous bodies with football development as my primary objective,” he noncommittally retorted.
It is this ambition that has inspired him to acquiesce to the requests of the relevant stakeholders to lead the GFA for the next 2 years. He remains committed to this task and closes the interview on a concomitant note, “There is a great need for training programmes to inculcate the right attitudes through the inputs of role models for those youths to emulate,” he said. He remains adamant that this could be attained through training and the involvement of senior players who will be used as role models.
Pressed to elaborate, Mr. Hicken said, “I’ve noted the conflicts that arise from time to time (among our players) and believe that training could better alleviate such behaviours while making them role models,” he said. He pointed to a three pronged approach in achieving this goal as shrewd managerial applications, expert planning and competent organizing.
He is a police commander and plans to extend this to the glorious game of football by taking command of the sport in the city.

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