Different Government same attitude towards sports

Jun 02, 2016 Sports

---

By Sean Devers

Guyana endured 21 years of Sports being ignored, grounds overgrown with bush, buildings constructed on

playing fields, lack of interest in putting qualified Coaches in Schools, insufficient funding to send National teams overseas and the general unimportance that sports was viewed by the PPP/Civic Administration.
Many who voted for the Collation Government was hopeful that the things that occurred during the past two decades would change for the betterment of Sports.
But after a year in power this Government has done nothing much for sports and little have changed. Many of those who voted for change, including me, remain disappointed.
The collective cry by those in the sports fraternity is ‘different Government same attitude towards Sports.
Nicolette Henry, the Junior Minister responsible for Sports, quickly shot down the concept of naming the Stands at the Providence Stadium, Guyana’s only International Cricket venue. She claimed she did not want to spend the next five years defending the names.
Director of Sports Christopher Jones promised to revisit the idea which could have been done during Jubilee month when those being recognized are still alive. Every other International cricket ground in the Caribbean has names attached to their stands unlike Guyana where the stands are named Green, Red and Orange.
Very few would have a problem with names such as Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, Colin Croft or Shiv Chanderpaul, being on the stands while the Media Centre could have been renamed the Reds Perriera Media Centre.
The 77-year-old Perriera, a former advisor to Sports Minister Shirley Field-Riddle in the Forbes Burnham PNC Government, feels Government, which changed the name of the Ogle Airport and plans to rename Carifesta Avenue, is not

doing enough for Sports.
Minister Henry seems unaware of the importance sport plays in reducing crime, uplifting the social skills of young people and building unity in Communities among many other positives.
Not a single National Award was presented to anyone for their contribution to Sports and that alone emphasizes the lack of respect or interest this Government has for Sports.
Guyana Olympic Association Head K Juman Yassin, Sports Journalist Alan LaRose, Boxing Promoter Herman Harris and former West Indies cricketer Clyde Butts are among those concerned by the lack of recognition for sports by Government.
There are many who feel the same way but because of fear of victimization remain silent. The Guyanese mentality is one which dares not challenge Authority which is inherited from the days of slavery, indentured servants and the various post Independence Governments.
Many ‘sit on the fence’ and refrain from publicly condemning that which is wrong without understanding that bad things continue because good people do nothing.
For Sports to improve locally we need more International standard facilities and more funding to pay coaches and provide our national teams with the exposure and experience of participating in more overseas events.
During the first 25 years of Independence, Sports was a ‘big thing’ with the staging of the annual Guystac and Guymine games while national athletes were never denied time off from their jobs to train or represent their country.
National and former National athletes were sent to Coach in schools by the NSC which was then located in Brickdam.
The State owned Guysuco grounds were well maintained venues in Skeldon, Rose Hall Canje, Blairmont, LBI, Versailles and Uitvlugt but under the previous Government they were allowed to fall into disrepair and it seems the present Administration is not interested in seeing them rehabilitated.

It is widely felt that too many persons mandated to ‘run’ sports are square pegs in round holes, including Minister Henry, who would have been better off in the Health Ministry because of her strong Medical background.
The Guyana Cricket Bill was supported in Parliament when the APNU-AFC was the opposition yet Minister Henry said she was unaware of the progress of the Bill or the status of Pastor Winston McGowan.
The first three ODIs in the Tri-series set for Providence and the state owned Station (NCN) has only acquired TV rights. This is the first time an International cricket match in Guyana will not broadcast on local Radio.
Correspondence was reportedly sent to Marketing Manager of NCN Raymond Azeez, informing him that the Government would not pay the US$25,000 for Radio Rights since the onus is on NCN to acquire sponsorship to cover that cost. When contacted Azeez declined to comment expect to confirm that there would be no radio commentary.
The US$25,000 would have covered the tri-nation series, the four India Tests and the entire CPL t20 tournament.
Government spent hundreds of millions on the Jubilee celebrations with tax payers money but can’t spend a small fraction of that to ensure that Guyanese have the opportunity to hear matches in the Tri-Nation series.
Grand Slam Sport has already assembled a radio commentary team to broadcast the games which will be heard throughout the Caribbean and further afield.

---

---