My thoughts on the AAG’s role at Nationals

Dec 18, 2015 Sports

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Dear Sport Editor,
An article published in the Kaieteur News Sunday edition titled “After ‘Nationals’, what?” (Kaieteur News, December 13) prompted me to add to the ongoing conversation about the role of the Athletics Association of Guyana at ‘Nationals’.
The article suggests that there is a tit for tat relationship between the AAG and the management of the Championships which includes the writer of the article, Mr. Edison Jefford. There was also a suggestion that there may be a mischievous agenda in deliberately misleading Hon. Minister Norton about the role of the AAG. These innuendos may cause serious damage to a system in dire need of an upgrade.
As noted in the article ‘context is everything’. Although I am not a member of the AAG, I have intimate knowledge of the Association’s involvement leading up to ‘Nationals’.
The AAG participated in a Forum for the Development of the National Schools Championships (see Kaieteur News: January 30, 2015, p. 41 by Edison Jefford) along with representatives from the Ministry of Education, Guyana Teachers Union, Guyana Olympic Association, Guyana Cycling Federation, Guyana Amateur Swimming Association, Armed Forces, other relevant government agencies, PE teachers and student-athletes.
The Forum was moderated by Mr. Noel Adonis, Vice-President of the Guyana Olympic association, on January 29, 2015 at the National Racquet Centre. The stakeholder workgroup findings were handed to the moderator, Mr. Adonis, who called subsequent meetings with a smaller group of stakeholder representatives to fine-tune the final report. Relative to Track and Field at ‘Nationals’, the following was recommended:
A hybrid system (participation Vs. elitism) should be instituted to allow for ‘other qualifiers’ to participate. This would ensure that more of the best athletes across Guyana are allowed to participate and develop timing and measuring systems at the district levels.
– A dual points system should be established to recognise school teams in an effort to increase a sports culture in schools.
– Specific training for officials working in managerial and technical areas.
– Articulation of rules and regulations as currently many international rules are not followed and there is no document on the technical rules. Further, primary school aged pupils should participate in ‘fun-athletics’ while secondary school aged students should have more competitive experiences.
– More ‘developmental meets’ should be organised to ensure that student-athletes are able to systematically improve their technique and physical conditioning prior to ‘Nationals’.
– Facilities (accommodation and competition) should reflect international standards; minimum standards in keeping with host districts’ involvement should be developed.
This year the grass track at the Guyana National Stadium was not marked to specification which led to some athletes running an extra 17 metres in some lanes; while the order of events, the weight/type of implements and age groups are not in line with international standards.
So coming back to the article which prompted my input in this conversation, the above mentioned recommendations are key to the proper execution of any programme after ‘Nationals’. It would be like receiving oranges from your neighbour when you really needed coconuts to complete the cook-up on the stove. The outputs of ‘Nationals’ must be of a particular standard which may be achieved by ensuring that certain national and international standards are instituted at the Management level. I agree with Mr. Jefford on the need for synchronisation of the grassroots work but he also has a misplaced perception and a misunderstanding of the function of the AAG.
I also agree that the silence from the AAG is deafening. On the other hand, this situation is similar to another which occurred some time ago between the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) and the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) organisation.
The GABF did not sanction the tournament held by YBG and thus penalised all participating registered players. The ordeal took months to find a solution. What if the AAG was to penalise athletes for participating in an unsanctioned competition? The AAG may not want similar negative publicity or short-term disruption to the sport.
In relation to Swimming and Cycling in the current format, I would suggest that the swimming competition be held on the last day and the cycling events be held at the National Park. The swimming competition on the last day would allow swimmers and team managers from across Guyana some time to get accustomed to the National Aquatic Centre and to work with qualified coaches to improve technique and knowledge of the rules of the sport.
While I would posit that the cycling events held on the grass track has little value locally or internationally: there is no international competition where cyclists ride on grass tracks. We should concentrate our energies on developing road cyclists.
In the end politics may have been the victor while Guyana’s Track and Field as a sport continues to slide behind other countries which created more cohesive developmental systems for their athletes.
To embrace the true spirit of sport, I long for the day when current and past Presidents, Directors, etc of various Sport Associations, bodies, etc and other stakeholders will work together to ensure that Guyanese sport is put before emotion, lack of knowledge, politics and divisiveness. Together anything is possible.
Yours in Sport,
Nicholas Fraser

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