No Development Plan yet from athletics association

Mar 09, 2017 Sports

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By Edison Jefford
The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) is still to produce its Development Plan, following a request from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) after its Elections in December to have the document submitted by the end of January.
AAG President, Aubrey Hutson had told Edwin Seeraj on his live television programme that the GOA had given associations the deadline for submissions. Hutson also committed to returning to the programme, ‘Sports Magazine’, to discuss details of the plan.
However, GOA President, K. A. Juman Yassin made the shocking revelation in the media weeks ago that only two associations have so far submitted plans. The athletics association as one of the main constituents of the GOA was not among the two that were submitted.
Hutson is yet to re-appear on the programme as promised to discuss the development plan for the years leading up to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The continued non-appearance of such an important document continues to characterise the association’s ineptitude.
The plan, for instance, is supposed to be the blueprint for support from the Olympic body, as well as the road map for the development of athletes both domestically and internationally, addressing participation in key meets and preparation at varying levels.
Without this important document, which is aimed at providing stakeholders with some insight to the direction of the association, underachievement will continue to prevail where there is obvious abundance of athletic talent simply because there is no vision.
And if nothing else, the AAG continues to display its lack of vision. Following his retention of the Presidency last month, Hutson and the AAG came in for severe criticism on social media and in the print and electronic media for bypassing Olympic finalist, triple jumper, Troy Doris and double sprint record holder, Olympian, Brenessa Thompson for male and female ‘Athlete of the Year’ respectively.
In addition, the myopia of the association was even more evident when it merely mustered pieces of cloth and some folding chairs at YMCA Auditorium on Thomas Road to host an award ceremony – an occasion fit for a more appropriate location because athletes deserve the best as ambassadors of their country.
This is how the year began for the AAG – with the same pitiable culture that has held Guyana’s athletic potential hostage. The 100m race is the premier event in athletics. A poor start makes it extremely difficult, but not impossible, to recover midway through the race.
One would have hoped that with the inauspicious situation the AAG is enduring with its start in a new four-year term, it would have used its National Youth and Junior Championships two weekends ago at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, to recover.
But instead, the mismanagement of talent inexcusably and shamelessly continued. There were so many good performances at the youth and junior competition that Guyana’s future in the sport is remarkably bright. The administration is where the failure is occurring.
For instance, for the two days, while Guyana’s best young athletes were on show at Leonora, the stands were empty, simply because the AAG did nothing to mobilise the media, send out notice of the upcoming event or even a press release, which are all free mediums.
Never mind, there was no radio and television advertising or a Facebook page counting down the days to the national event, there were free mechanisms available to the association, but instead, it chose to do nothing, as usual, to get people to see Guyana’s best athletes.
The stadium was empty with great talent on show; this is the ‘incentive’ that the AAG continues to give athletes. It is unacceptable. The association could have been forgiven if it tried and failed at marketing the event and the athletes, but to do nothing at all is just deplorable.
If it wasn’t for the amateur efforts of Nial Stanton, no one would have known that the association was hosting a National Championship. Stanton prepared a flyer and invited people to support the activity on Facebook, which is how many came to know it was happening.
Maybe it is good to let the AAG know that at this stage, Barbados has already named 20 athletes for the CARIFTA Games. Some of the athletes given to the AAG from the National Schools’ Championships last year were absent from the local competition two weekends ago, including those from the hinterland regions.
The AAG perhaps has ditched a well-publicised plan to have more athletes represent Guyana at the CARIFTA Games in a collective effort. The association will have to absorb all the blame for not allowing athletes an equal opportunity. After all, the AAG is not a serious organisation.

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