GCF head Burrowes calls for support

Sep 06, 2017 Sports

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By Zaheer Mohamed
Guyana is often seen as a country where sports does not get the type of recognition it deserves.

Many talented athletes are not being given the right treatment-often we see the best are not being selected to represent the country and most of the local sporting bodies are being plagued by internal wrangling.
Maybe the officials here do not recognise the importance of sports or what it can do for a country, so athletes have to contend with the little support they get when preparing for regional and international meets. But when they excel then entire country gets the credit.
Guyanese turning up at a stadium overseas and see their athletes medaling or the Golden Arrowhead flying aloft brings joy to their hearts. It must be noted that Guyana has a rich history in some sports especially in cricket, and only recently our Under-19 male and female teams won regional titles.
Look at some Caribbean territories, like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, they have a number of top class facilities, and their athletes are being well taken care of. In Trinidad and Tobago, even the smallest of grounds around Couva have floodlights so sports can also be played in the nights. So there is no surprise when athletes in those countries stand out in international competitions.
Recently, Guyana was represented at the Pan Am Senior Track Cycling Championship in Trinidad and Tobago by Scott Savory, Romello Crawford and Daryl Rogers held at the world class National Cycling Centre in Balmain, Couva.
Some 20 nations participated including Brazil, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, USA, Canada, Mexico and the host nation from August 29-September 3. Lack of preparation and adequate funding along with some of the aforementioned challenges are among the reasons that our athletes failed to land any podium spots. Certainly it’s not a question of talent for Guyana has an abundance of talent.
Crawford of Trojan Cycle Club took part in the Kerean (sprint race), Points race and the Scratch race (60 laps), Rogers competed in the Scratch while Savory participated in the Scratch, Omnium (four track races) and Kerean races.
President of the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF), Horace Burrowes who accompanied the team to the championships as the Coach, said the lack of a cycling track in Guyana contributed to the lack of preparation for a competition of such magnitude.
Speaking with Kaieteur Sport, Burrowes who funded the athletes’ accommodation and clothing informed that their efforts to obtain funding from the National Sports Commission and the Guyana Olympic Association proved futile, adding that if they had sufficient funding the cyclists could have trained overseas for the games.
Burrowes is calling on the business community for support and informed that prior to the Pam Am games, they were asked to send a budget to the GOA and NSC for assistance. He indicated that even though they forwarded the budget to both organisations they didn’t receive any response.
”We have lots of talented cyclists here who can medal at these games, but they must be properly trained, however due to the lack of adequate facilities our cyclists were unprepared for the competition,” he added.
Burrowes pointed out that he is currently working with the USA Federation to obtain bikes for local cyclists. “The USA Olympic Committee is willing to assist due to the direction in which I am heading with the sport here,” he informed.
The GCF head indicated that some of his executive members are not functioning in their capacity and this is not good for the sport. “Some executives do not show commitment, they were elected to serve but some people only took up the position and are not working for the growth of cycling.”
”I am willing to work with the clubs for the development of the sport, so if there is any member of any club who is willing to serve on the executive then we will happily accept them. There are some positions yet to be filled on committees including the disciplinary, race, fund raising and the treasury department, so we are willing to accept people who are willing to work.”
Looking ahead, Burrowes wants to have qualified coaches working with local cyclists. “We don’t have any coaches in Guyana, so we have to start looking at the possibility of having coaches going overseas to get qualified, and solidarity funding should be provided by the GOA to assist in this venture,” he noted.
Burrowes who credited Joseph Britton (Racing Secretary ag.) for his commitment to the sport, explained that much emphasis should be placed in women’s cycling here. He said they have to maintain a high standard of local competitions and focus more on international racing in order to lift the standard of cycling in Guyana.

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