NSC performing better than ever before

Jan 29, 2017 Sports

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-Jones puts policy in perspective

By Edison Jefford
The Director of Sport, Christopher Jones and The National Sports Commission (NSC)

performed admirably for the 16 months they have been in place, but primarily the absence of legislation that will allow them to be transformational in their leadership continues to hamstring the national and holistic development of sports.
Jones became Director of Sport following the success of the Coalition Government at the polls in May 2015; a new Commission was gazetted in September that year and since then there has been positive changes as it relates to how Government administers sports.
For instance, more money has been allocated to sports and its development in the national budget and there is a plan for the construction of at least two more major facilities this year, which allow Government to fulfil its function of providing finance and infrastructure.
For Capital Expenditure, The Ministry of Education, which has responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sports received $536,979,000 for 2017, compared to $295,460,000 it received for 2016. This means that sports got $241,519,000 more than it received last year, representing an increase of 82 percent.
NSC was awarded $215,000,000 compared to $178,699,000 last year. The Commission enjoyed an increase of $36,301,000, which works out to a 20 percent boost for 2017.
In addition, a database of local athletes is being developed and there is a stated plan to have sport organisers and coaches in every district; the NSC has doled out millions to sport associations and federations and for the first time in the history of the Commission, four athletes are beneficiaries of funding for scholarships in Jamaica.
These structures were all absent from the State during the previous administration, and therefore, it would be fair to say that after just 16 months, the Commission seems to be on the right path at the macro level, but urgently needs legislative strengthening, in the form of policy, to ensure that its efforts trickle down to where it matters most – the athlete.
“There is a need for a policy change at the Education level. Sports should be a subject in schools; it would encourage parents to encourage their children to participate, and the Government policy must be to provide scholarships to the University of Guyana to students once their grades and the performance in sports are at a high level,” Jones told Kaieteur Sport.
He believes that once there are policy guidelines, then the Commission will be able to implement systems that directly impact athletes’ performance. For instance, he stated that those systems will ensure that sport associations are constitutionally accountable.
Sport associations are the organs that, more often than not, interface directly with athletes, which raise the need for associations to understand Government’s vision for the development of sports and their adherence to the relevant legislative framework.
But Guyana is yet to enact its sports policy because it is incomplete. Government has promised this year as the deadline for the policy. Without this all but important document, though it is not the ultimate saviour for sports, the efforts of the Commission will not reach its right destination, which can eventually threaten its success.
“Government alone cannot do it; corporate support is necessary, but what are they getting back? Government should be talking to them (corporate Guyana) about tax breaks for their support,” Jones said, adding “no one should question any investment in sports because there are so many spinoffs.”
The Director of Sport believes that sports is the perfect example of social cohesion because it is not race-based and has proven to be a method of bringing people together whether as spectators or to be part of one team. These are some of the transformational mechanisms that a policy will be able to guide.
“We cannot develop sports in one or two regions. We have to invest in our outlying regions. It is a known fact that what obtains for sports in Region 1 would not be the same in Region 10, which means that each region demands its own unique investment,” Jones said.
Jones suggested that Kayaking could be introduced in riverain areas in Guyana. It is an Olympic sport and Guyana’s indigenous population are very skilled with canoes. These provide scope for Guyana’s sports product, but the policy document, which ought to address these issues, is touted for later this year.
However, Jones indicated that the ‘Light It Up Project’, which began at the National Gymnasium last year will continue at several grounds across Guyana. The Gymnasium is earmarked for some transformational works that will make it a modern multi-purpose venue.
Apart from those, another synthetics track will be built in Linden as Government continues to be pro-active in fulfilling its role as it relates to the development of sports at the macro level. These efforts, as indicated before, need grassroots support to succeed, but those grassroots architects of support at the association level are adverse to development, counter-productive and indifferent to say the least.

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