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Boxing Association seeks help for important overseas events
The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) will be sending a team for next year’s Olympic Qualifiers and one to the Caribbean Championships and as well all know these overseas competitions are costly endeavours. As a consequence, President of the GBA and his executive has started looking for support from government and corporate Guyana.
Steve Ninvalle
GBA President Steve Ninvalle indicated in a release that the GBA last week dispatched letters to the Government of Guyana and to the Guyana Olympic Association outlining its intention to send a four-man team to the Olympic Qualifiers set for March 26 to April 3 in Argentina.
In the GOA missive, Ninvalle declared that there must be a genuinely serious approach to preparation of athletes if the country is to capture medals at major international competitions.
“The Qualifier for the Americas will be held in Buenos Aries, Argentina for March 26 to April 3, 2020 and we cannot overstate the importance of Guyana’s participation at this event, which is included in our four-year programme.
The GBA also shares the widely embraced view that boxing is still Guyana’s best chance at gaining a medal at the Olympics. However, there must be a genuinely serious approach to preparation of athletes in order for that view to become reality.
With this in mind the GBA is now requesting that you explore the possibility of funding for overseas preparation of the boxers through the Olympic Solidarity, Pan American Sport Organisation and the GOA.
Sir, it is only apposite that if we call on our boxers to compete against the best in the world with any measure of success, then we should provide the tools that will allow them to participate competitively.
After careful deliberation our Coaches Commission recommended a two-month preparation stint at the High Performance National Centre in Girardo Cordoba Cardin, Cuba or any other suitable location, for the four boxers. There they will be exposed to a wealth of sparring partners, techniques, appropriate equipment and, rub shoulders on a daily basis with some of the best fighters in the world,” Ninvalle wrote.
Keevin Allicock had benefited from a training stint in Cuba and is currently in Russia being exposed to another training programme which will do his preparation much good. Ninvalle is seeking same for the others to sharpen their skills for the higher level competition.
A letter also was sent to the Director of Sport Christopher Jones. Ninvalle informed that the GOA president K. Juman Yassin gave his usual prompt reply and has since been advising the association on the way forward. “To put it mildly we are encouraged by the response from the GOA president who has always been supportive of our efforts. It is because of Mr. Yassin that Keevin Allicock could have prepared in Cuba for the Pan Am Games and brought us so close to a medal,” Ninvalle noted.
Both Yassin and Jones were furnished with a budget for the overseas preparation for the Olympic Qualifiers.
Additionally, Ninvalle warned that Guyana will obviously relinquish the Caribbean Crown if it fields a small team to the Caribbean Championships to be held in Trinidad from December 6 to 9. He noted, “This year Guyana will be going for a double. Last year we won the Senior and Junior Caribbean Championships. This year we have already retained the Juniors (Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors). We will have to send a team of at least 16 boxers if we are to retain the senior Caribbean title that we worked so hard to achieve.”
The Vice President of the Americas Boxing Confederation, Ninvalle, informed that Barbados has already registered at team of 20, while host Trinidad and Tobago have no less than a 30-man strong team. Guyana will select a squad following the Terrence Alli National Open scheduled for next month end.
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